Video: Zdeno Chara Hits Max Pacioretty Into Glass Divider, Pacioretty Stretchered Off

After their last meeting there was some bad blood between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens and tonight’s action will not do anything to stem that from these two longtime rivals.  Late in the second period, Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara rode Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty along the wall and Pacioretty’s head would slam into the glass divider between the two benches. 

Pacioretty was down and unconscious for some time before he was placed on a stretcher and taken to the hospital.  Early reports from the Canadiens are that Pacioretty is conscious and able to move all of his extremities, which is excellent news. 

Update: Per Darren Dreger the news on Pacioretty is not good.

According to Habs, Pacioretty suffered a severe concussion and fractured 4th cervical vertebra.

Here is the video of the hit:

As for the hit itself it is definitely late and Chara was assessed a 5-minute major penalty for interference, as well as a game misconduct on the play.  The question now is what kind of punishment Chara will get from the league.  There does appear to be malicious intent on Chara’s part, but the severity of the result will certainly be factored into any decision that the league makes.

What do you think the league should do with Chara?