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Should Raffi Torres be suspended for his hit on Brent Seabrook? (Video and poll)

Canucks Oilers Hockey

Vancouver Canucks’ Raffi Torres, left, fights with the Edmonton Oilers’ Ryan O’Marra during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Edmonton, Alberta, on Tuesday, April 5, 2011. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, John Ulan)

AP

If insanity really is repeating the same action but expecting a different result, then Vancouver Canucks forward Raffi Torres might be insane. On his first game back after serving a suspension for a brutal hit on Edmonton Oilers rookie Jordan Eberle, Torres delivered a virtually identical hit on Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook.

Torres received a major penalty for the hit on Eberle, but most importantly received a four-game suspension that included two playoff games. This time around, Torres only received a two minute interference penalty for his infraction on Seabrook, although many people think that the greatest repercussions will come once the league reviews the check.

We can debate the merit of punishing these types of hits all day, but the bottom line is that the league already set a precedent by suspending him for nearly the exact same offense. If you want to compare the two hits, we have video that includes both hits at the bottom of this post.

It’s a downright stomach-turning moment when you consider the fact that Torres obviously didn’t learn his lesson from before. He clearly had little-to-no interest in the puck and was going straight for Seabrook, with the only subjective portion being whether or not he was targeting Seabrook’s head. It’s nice that the Blackhawks were able to get a measure of revenge by scoring a power-play goal on the resulting minor penalty, but will the Canucks care if they lose a replaceable player in Torres?

The moment was interesting for reasons beyond the shenanigans of a player who is drawing unfavorable comparisons to Matt Cooke, though. This situation put the cloudiness of the league’s concussion evaluation process under the spotlight, as Seabrook was allowed to play after the hit. If the referees followed the letter of the new concussion laws, he would have been forced to go to “The Quiet Room” for 15 minutes to determine if he has a concussion or not.

Seabrook received another hit from Torres (this time a clean one), which finally forced him to the locker room. Thankfully, Seabrook returned to play in the third period, but it’s easy to wonder if he’s covering up concussion symptoms.

Now that you know the basics of the situation, take a look at video footage of the Torres hits on Seabrook and Eberle.

There were many who think Torres should be suspended for the rest of the first round series, but with the Canucks now up 3-0 (more on the game itself in a later post), it might be better for him to receive a certain number of games. People equate a single playoff game to two regular games, so his previous punishment was essentially a six-game suspension. Considering the fact that he clearly didn’t learn from that mistake, I’d say a five-game time-out session might be appropriate.

How do you feel about the hit, though? Does Torres deserve to go without a punishment, a small suspension or something more severe? Let us know by voting in the poll below.

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