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Not surprisingly, the Habs are surprised by Mark Recchi’s comments about Max Pacioretty

Boston Bruins v New York Islanders

at the Nassau Coliseum on March 11, 2011 in Uniondale, New York.

Bruce Bennett

People who recently suffered concussions clearly cannot go to movies.

That is the medical opinion of potential Hall of Fame winger Mark Recchi, who fanned the flames of Boston conspiracy theories that the Montreal Canadiens “embellished” the injuries suffered by Max Pacioretty after that Zdeno Chara hit.

While Joe Haggerty writes that Recchi knows exactly what he was doing by saying that, the Canadiens largely couldn’t follow the aging veteran’s logic. While head coach Jacques Martin and nearly-Chara-sized defenseman Hal Gill were coy in their responses to Recchi’s rabble rousing remarks, Paul Mara responded for ESPN Boston while Michael Cammalleri discussed Recchi’s statements in the Boston Globe.

First, here are Cammalleri’s comments. The back end of his commentary responds to the idea that Recchi was saying these (largely ridiculous) things to stir the pot.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate,” Cammalleri said. “I don’t think those comments are appropriate by Mark. Surprised, to be honest with you. Mark’s a guy who’s been around a long time. I’m not sure he has a medical degree yet. I think it is what it is when it comes to the brain. These are very unclear injuries and very serious ones. I think it’s a little bit disrespectful with those comments, that’s for sure. A little bit surprised coming from a guy with the reputation that he has.”

(snip)

“It might be,” said Cammalleri. “That’s why it’s surprising to me, because Mark’s a veteran. He does have a reputation. He’s been around so long. It might be. I don’t know. I think Mark would admit he’s not an M.D. He’s not diagnosing these things. Maybe it is a bit of gamesmanship.”


Moving on, here were Mara’s thoughts.
“We heard those comments yesterday,” Montreal blueliner Paul Mara said Thursday morning in advance of the game between the Bruins and Canadiens at TD Garden. “A player with a broken vertebra and has been knocked out on the ice for 3 or 4 minutes, how do you question the integrity of a hockey team and that we’re embellishing it? [It] is really questionable coming from a guy who’s 42 years old and has been around the league for so long. He’s entitled to his opinion and we’re entitled to ours, but in Montreal we really know the truth.”

It’s no surprise that the Canadiens are surprised by Recchi’s comments since most people in hockey were probably at least a bit stunned by it.

The Habs and Bruins shouldn’t need much bulletin board material considering the fact that the Northeast Division should be the only dangling carrot necessary, but these comments and the bitterness lingering over that hit should fuel whatever fires that aren’t started by standings points. It could be a great match, one that might even factor into which team has home ice advantage if the the two teams meet in the playoffs.