Raffi Torres appeals his suspension

I was going to get to this story yesterday but a big bomb shell of a story emerged out of UND and this story kind of got put on the back burner. Big shock, NHL repeat offender Raffi Torres is appealing his 25 game suspensions, apparently unapologetic Torres feels that his 25-game suspension is excessive based on NHL senior vice president Brendan Shanahan's inconsistency in his previous ruling.

Kevin Allen, USA TODAY --- USA TODAY obtained a copy of the memo sent to players, and in it, NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr and general counsel Don Zavelo pointed out that Torres is only appealing the length of suspension, and not whether his hit violated the rules or whether he deserved to be suspended. The NHLPA positions spelled out in the memo: • The 25-game suspension is excessive and arbitrary — it is more than double the length of any ever issued by Shanahan and is one of the longest suspensions in the history of the NHL. • Shanahan denied Torres' request to show video evidence at his disciplinary hearing about how similar or worse hits have been treated in the past. He is asking for an in-person appeal hearing so that he can present this evidence to the commissioner.

Personally, I think that Raffi Torres should take his medicine and shut the heck up – he's a repeat offender that doesn’t seem to get it. I've suggested that Torres is an unapologetic sociopath and this suspension was a long time in the making.

The league is not picking on you Raffi – they're trying to send a message to him, telling him that they're sick and tired of your bush-league antics and that they no longer will tolerate them. Torres should have a talk with league bad boy Matt Cooke.

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Raffi Torres Shanahammered - suspended 25 games

The NHL has spoken, they have made an example out of Raffi Torres, they have thrown the book at him. The NHL has also set a precedence, the question is, will the NHL be consistent in their ruling?. While I think that Torres deserved at least a 5-10 suspension this suspension is almost to the point of being excessive. My first question is, would the NHL give the same suspension for a star player? I am going to say not.

NEW YORK -- Following are statements from National Hockey League Senior Vice President of Player Safety and Hockey Operations Brendan Shanahan in announcing the 25-game suspension assessed to Phoenix Coyotes forward Raffi Torres:

"This is a violation of three NHL rules – interference, charging and illegal check to the head."

"In addition to the fact that three separate NHL rules were violated with this one hit, two other factors were critical in determining the appropriate length of suspension:

"First, this violent and dangerous hit caused a severe injury.

"Second, Torres not only is a repeat offender as defined by the CBA, his extensive Supplemental Discipline history consists mainly of acts very similar to this one – including two this season."

"Despite knowing that Hossa no longer has the puck, Torres decides to finish his check past the amount of time when Hossa is eligible to be bodychecked. That is a violation of the Interference rule."

"While we acknowledge the circumstances of certain hits may cause a player's skates to come off the ice, on this hit, Torres launches himself into the air before making contact. This is a violation of the Charging rule."

"The position of Hossa's head does not change just prior to or simultaneous with this hit. The onus, therefore, is on Torres not to make it the principal point of contact. By leaping, Torres makes Hossa's head the principal point of contact. That is a violation of the Illegal Check to the Head rule."

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Torres to meet with the Shanahammer

IMG_5555.jpg (Photo credit: bridgetds)

Phoenix Coyotes forward Raffi Torres has his day in court. The fact that the hearing is in person in the NHL's New York office does not bode well for Mr. Torres because the NHL is about to make an example out of him.

NEW YORK -- Phoenix Coyotes forward Raffi Torres has been suspended indefinitely, pending an in-person hearing Friday, April 20, the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety announced today. The hearing, which had been planned for today, was deferred at the request of the player and the National Hockey League Players' Association.

You can expect that Brendan Shanahan is going to take Raffi Torres to the woodshed and this one going to hurt and it’s going to be easy for Shanny, Torres did it to himself and he has no one to blame but himself.

Torres is a villain; he is also a poster boy of what is wrong with the NHL in the minds of many fans. Torres is also a Matt Cooke type player, and also a repeat offender that hasn’t changed his game when the game has started to evolve.

Related articles

• Raffi Torres Suspended Indefinitely (tracking.si.com)
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Raffi Torres hit on Marian Hossa

One year to the day after Phoenix Coyotes forward Raffi Torres hit On Brent Seabrook with a questionable hit behind the Blackhawks net Torres laid out Marian Hossa with this hit. The problem is that Torres left his feet to make this hit. The NBC broadcast crew interviewed the Blawkhawks head coach  Joel Quenneville on the bench and it was pretty obvious that he was very angry that four guys on the ice could miss that hit.

You would have to think that Raffi Torres might be looking at a big suspension and the possibility that this could be his last game during the 2012 playoffs, or not. Hossa was carried off of the ice on a stretcher and there was no penalty on the play.

Raffi Torres is at it again.

Raffi Torres is a dirty and reckless players and if you watch this video, you probably have come to the conclusion that Torres should have been suspended a long time ago and for a very long time. The next time this guy hits someone in the head, and it will probably be next week, he should be gone; suspended for 10 games this time.

Last week we had Torres doing this despicable act.

This is the proper response for someone that hits one of your fellow players in the head, this is called sticking up for your fellow players, instead of waiting for the refs to make the call. Nothing pleases me more than watching Adam McQuaid work Raffi Torres like a punching bag.

Let's not kid ourselves, Raffi Torres is notorious for racing all over the ice, taking unneeded runs at guys, many times Torres hits players with dirty hits like this hit on Brent Seabrook last spring during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

It's about time this gutless puke pays for his act of transgression on the ice. You can hit someone hard and make a good body check without having to hit a opponent in the head. Nice to see that Brendan Shanahan has gotten it right twice in the same week. Some Day Torres is also going to get what he has coming to him, you would have thought he would have learned his lesson when Adam McQuaid beat the tar out of him.

Related articles

• Adam McQuaid works Raffi Torres like a clown (mvn.com)
• Coyotes' Raffi Torres fined for head shot (theglobeandmail.com)
• Adam McQuaid fights angry, beats the hell out of Raffi Torres (ballhyped.com)
• Phoenix Coyotes' Raffi Torres fined $2,500 for hit on Colorado's Jan Hejda (thehockeynews.com)