"He does obviously have a fractured vertebra, but the concussion is obviously really a non-factor," said Recchi, citing how Pacioretty attended a movie several days after the hit. "In maybe a day or two -- maybe a day he felt it -- but he was fine a couple days later. They were trying to get Zdeno suspended and they embellished it a little bit. In terms of that side, they're doing whatever they could to get him suspended. I think the league sent a message that it was a hockey play. That's the important thing and people have to understand. If they deemed it something that was serious, they suspended Matt Cooke up to 17 games for a head shot. They're serious about protecting the players now. That was an interference play at worst. The partitions got in the way. I don't think Zdeno is to blame for that." -Mark Recchi, 98.5 The Sports Hub
Montreal has been bitching and complaining about this for way too long. Instead of talking shit about how they have dominated the Bruins on the scoreboard they have chose to focus on this storyline. The Bruins have taken the highroad and Chara has said he even reached out to Pacioretty but has gotten no response. Recchi comes out and says this for two reasons, first its true. Second, this is what great veteran players do. They take the spotlight of a big game and make sure it shines on them. Heading into tonight Montreal players and fans had one guy in mind for which they wanted blood, that one guy was Chara. Recchi's comments give Montreal another target to circle. The Recching Ball has let Montreal know if they want to pull some cheap shit tonight for retribution he will be the first one in line to throw down and support his Captain.
All bullshit aside, the Bruins need to send Montreal a message that they can compete with them. 4 weeks from now Montreal may very well be the first team standing in their way on the road to the Stanley Cup.
Cue the fuckin Music
