Raffi Torres Suspended: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

The San Jose Sharks will be without left winger Raffi Torres for the first half of the 2015-16 season.

NHL Player Safety announced Monday the 33-year-old veteran was suspended for 41 games for an illegal check to the head and interference of Anaheim Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg during Saturday’s preseason contest. It also provided a video of the play and an explanation of the punishment:

Per the video, Silfverberg did not suffer an apparent injury, although he did not return to the game for precautionary reasons.   

The video reveals Torres glided across the ice and drove his shoulder directly into Silfverberg’s head with the hit. It also explains Silfverberg was stripped 0.8 seconds before he was hit, which made it illegal for Torres to finish the check on the defenseless player.

The video then references the collective bargaining agreement that states “players who repeatedly violate league playing rules will be more severely punished for each new violation.” While Torres only played in 12 regular or postseason games the past two campaigns because of knee injuries, he has also only appeared in 15 games since his last suspension for an illegal check to the head.   

Bob McKenzie of TSN broke down how this may impact the Sharks roster:

Torres was sanctioned multiple times in 2011—once for an elbow to the head and once for an illegal charge—in 2012 for a late, high hit and in 2013 for an illegal hit to the head. According to the video, he has been warned, fined or suspended nine times in 703 career games, and many of those incidents dealt with hits to the head.

Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote “it’s unbelievable that teams keep signing Torres” given that lengthy list of transgressions, while ESPN’s Sarah Spain commented on the suspension:

The last time Torres was on the ice in the regular season came in the 2013-14 campaign, when he only played five games for San Jose. He scored three goals and tallied two assists in that short time and is clearly a difference-maker when he is out there, but Sharks fans will have to wait until the second half of the 2015-16 season to see the left winger in action.