Raffi Torres Hit on Marian Hossa: NHL Must Suspend Torres for a Very Long Time

Phoenix Coyotes forward Raffi Torres delivered a vicious hit to Chicago Blackhawks star Marian Hossa on Tuesday night, further proving why he's the dirtiest player in the NHL.

Not only should Torres be suspended for the playoffs, the league seriously needs to consider if he should miss games next season too. 

Torres needs to be suspended for a very, very long time.

Hossa was carried off the ice in a stretcher after the hit and was taken to a Chicago hospital.

As you can tell by the video, Torres leaves his feet, the puck is already gone and he takes a shot at Hossa's head.

Interestingly enough, Torres was given no penalty for this brutal hit, continuing the poor performance of referees in the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs.

We've heard the term "repeat offender" being used by league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan when he has dished out suspensions this season. Simply put, if you continue to make illegal hits and don't learn your lesson, your consequences will be more severe each time you cross the line.

Repeat offender doesn't even begin to describe Torres, who has been suspended and fined before.

Torres embodies everything that's wrong with the sport of hockey. He continues to take cheap shots and deliver dangerous hits where he intends to injure his opponents and has refused to change the way he plays.

Suspensions and fines have not made him change his violent ways, so it's time for the league to send a strong message to Torres in an attempt to ensure he never does something like this again.

Shanahan's decisions on player discipline and choosing when to suspend and not to suspend players during the playoffs have been awful for the most part, but there's no way he can get this decision wrong.

Torres is going to sit for a long time.

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Nicholas Goss is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He was also the organization's on-site reporter for the 2011 Stanley Cup Final in Boston.