Raffi Torres Gets What He Deserves

from Scott Burnside of ESPN,

If it's possible for a film short from the NHL's department of player safety to be nominated for an Oscar, Monday's thoughtful, point-by-point dismantling of serial predator Raffi Torres should be considered.
Maybe there's a category for "Lowering the Boom."
Finally.
Two days after yet another patented sneak attack by Torres, this one on an unsuspecting Jakob Silfverberg of the Anaheim Ducks, the NHL lowered the boom on the San Jose Sharks forward with a 41-game suspension that ranks as one of the longest in NHL history.
For all but the most myopic of Sharks fans or Torres supporters, this was all about paying the piper. Finally.

continued

from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,

Today, if the NHLPA took it to a players’ vote, Torres might never play again.
Yes, this time a player who has bitten the mailman again and again and again with relatively little consequence, may finally have a date at the veterinarian’s.
His suspension means that San Jose must play the first half of the season down a man, as a suspended player counts as a roster spot. The Sharks are not absolved of paying his contract however. The money ($440,860.29) just goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund — so the Sharks are paying a player with no return of service.
With precedent set, the next Torres suspension for a high hit — which will come as surely as the sun rises in the East — could be 60 games. Or perhaps a full season.
No team will risk employing that player once Torres’ current deal expires after the 2015-16 season. He will join the likes of Patrick Kaleta, another guy who never figured out how not to hurt people, in the minors or in retirement.
Amen. The game is a better place without them.

Raffi Torres Gets What He Deserves

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