Look Who's Back: Bruins' Marc Savard Cleared To Play In Second Round

By Rafal Ladysz

The wait is over for Marc Savard, as the Boston Bruins center has been medically cleared to compete and will dress for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Despite being cleared on Monday, he did not participate in the sixth game between the Bruins and Buffalo Sabres, which Boston won 4-3 to bounce the Sabres and advance.

They will have to wait for the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens to close out their series before discovering who their next opponent will be. If Washington wins, the Bruins will face the Pittsburgh Penguins, but if the Canadiens squeak through, the Philadelphia Flyers will head to Beantown.

Savard suffered a grade-two concussion from a blind-side hit by the Pens' Matt Cooke on March 7, the reason he has been out to this point. Coincidentally, his first game in nearly two months could be against the man who hurt him with a cheap hit.

For the fans that wanted to see the Bruins exact revenge on Pittsburgh forward Matt Cooke for his nasty hit on Marc Savard, they came away satisfied thanks to Shawn Thornton. Other than that, there was not much to cheer about, says Stanley Cup of Chowder, SB Nation's Bruin blog.

Bruins fans got what they wanted to see: Shawn Thornton pounding Matt Cooke. What they didn't see was a strong effort from the hometown team. The B's were booed off the ice at the TD Garden tonight after a 3-0 loss to the Penguins in a lackluster effort that saw them record just 17 shots on goals.

To add insult to injury, the Bruins 1970 Stanley Cup champion team was honored in a pre-game ceremony and post-game reception.

I would love to be a fly on the wall and see the current team at this reception trying to put on a happy face for the fans that paid good money for tickets to the game and then a another $275 to go to the party.

It took a total of two minutes for the Boston Bruins to get some revenge on Matt Cooke. Shawn Thornton got Cooke to drop the gloves two minutes into the first period of the Bruins/Penguins game on Thursday night. Here is the video:

Thornton received a ten minute misconduct for punching Cooke after the linesman stepped in. The question remains to be seen if this is enough for Cooke.

For more information on this game, please visit our Bruins site, Stanley Cup Of Chowder, and our Penguins site, Pensburgh.

Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Marc-Andre Fleury needed to make just 17 saves to post his first shutout of the season as Pittsburgh blanked Boston, 3-0, at TD Garden.

Tyler Kennedy, Alexei Ponikarovsky and Michael Rupp each scored once for the Penguins, who had lost three of four coming in.

Pittsburgh moved two points ahead of New Jersey for first place in the Atlantic Division, with the outcome of theDevils-Maple Leafs game still outstanding.

Tuukka Rask allowed three goals on 31 shots for the Bruins, who have dropped three of four.

It was the first meeting between the clubs since a March 7 contest which saw Pittsburgh forward Matt Cookeelbow Bruins forward Marc Savard in the head, causing Savard to suffer a concussion and to presumably miss the remainder of the regular season.

Less than two minutes into the contest, Cooke had to answer for his actions as B's forward Shawn Thornton engaged him in a fight. Thornton emerged a clear winner, but it failed to stoke the home team's fires.

Kennedy's wrister from the right wing at 8:34 of the first period put the Penguins on the board.

Ponikarovksy doubled the advantage with 15 seconds to play in the second period after his deft tip of a Kris Letang shot got past Rask.

Rupp gave Pittsburgh a 3-0 advantage at 5:14 of the third on an unassisted tally and Fleury was equal to all seven shots he faced in the third period.

Pittsburgh took three of four games from Boston in the season series...Fleury's last shutout came on March 25, 2009 against Calgary. He has 16 total whitewashes in his career...Pens forward Evgeni Malkin did not play for the second consecutive game after a foot injury suffered over the weekend. He continues to be day-to-day...Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was held scoreless for the second straight contest after a nine-game scoring streak.

As soon as the Bruins and Penguins stepped off the ice back on March 7, the first question was, of course, when do these teams play again? The answer: 7 PM ET, tonight at TD Garden in Boston.

The next logical question then is, will the Bruins deliver any form of payback for the season-ending hit Penguins forward Matt Cooke laid on Bruins leading scorer Marc Savard? That night in March, the Bruins did nothing to support their teammate. If you take a look back in the books of recent history, you'll realize that the chances of retribution tonight are slim as well.

The Savard hit has been likened to the hit Philadelphia's Mike Richards laid on Florida's David Booth earlier this season. Booth missed 40-plus games following that devastating incident, but like with Savard, his Panther teammates did not do anything to Richards during that game. In the next meeting between the Flyers and Panthers, Florida called up several thugs from the minor leagues in a show of force, but during the game, nothing major happened.

No head hunting, no vigilante justice. Panthers captain Bryan McCabe did make Richards answer the bell in a fight, but the game didn't turn into the blood bath that many in the media had likely hoped it would become. Media like Boston Herald columnist Ron Borges, who say that simply forcing Cooke to answer the bell by fighting would be silly.

Here's an excerpt from a column Borges published early Thursday morning:

To fight Cooke would be, in a word, stupid - unless Pacquiao is handling the fisticuffs. With Nickie, there would be no fighting involved. More a case of “Anybody seen Matt?”

To take the traditional hockey fight route would be silly because:

a) He probably won’t fight back, that not being his modus operandi.

b) Why get your own guys in hot water with Campbell sitting upstairs taking notes?

c) It’s been 11 days since the original incident, which should have been taken care of at the time by Savard’s teammates and wasn’t - so it’s a bit late for Machismo on Ice.

Yes, League disciplinarian Colin Campbell will be in attendance, but at last check, fighting is a completely legal form of retribution in the sport of hockey. In fact, it's the sole reason it's in the game, right? Campbell will address both teams before the game, but he's not going to outlaw part of the game because there's bad blood between the teams.

From TSN:

It's expected that the league executives will meet personally [Thursday] with both general managers -- Boston's Peter Chiarelli and Pittsburgh's Ray Shero - as well as both head coaches - Boston's Claude Julien and Pittsburgh's Dan Bylsma - to ensure that whatever happens in terms of retribution, it falls within reasonable limits.

Reasonable limits. Making Cooke drop the gloves with Zdeno Chara or Shawn Thornton is certainly within reasonable limits. There's something to be said for Cooke just not fighting back, but with the entire hockey world watching this game intently each time Cooke steps on the ice, he would be naive to think he can get out of this game without a fight. And if he's challenged and turns down a fight, he'll be made fun of for the rest of his career like the kid at lunch in second grade who slipped and fell on the spilled apple sauce.

Will we see any of the wild, out of control retribution, though? Campbell will try to intimidate the players into not taking part in that stuff, but hockey is an emotional game and you know those Bruins players can't stand the sight of Matt Cooke.

And when the NHL comes down and says that hits like Cooke's are illegal -- but, you know, not just yet -- we're gonna wait til next season for that, meaning Cooke gets off without punishment. Well, you know that makes the Bruins mad. In the midst of a game, it's completely plausible to think one Bruins player could take a run at Cooke the same way Cooke hit Savard.

After all, it's still legal.

Marc Savard, the Bruins center who was knocked unconscious by the elbow of Matt Cooke, will likely miss the remainder of the season with a Grade-2 concussion.

Savard met with a neuro-psychological specialist on Thursday, who said that the center "showed little progress in his condition."

30 general managers, 30 yes votes.

That was the result today as the league's GM's voted on a new proposal that would make some head shots punishable by an in-game minor or major penalty, which could be followed up by supplemental discipline at the league's discretion.

NHL.com reported the exact text of the proposal put forth at the annual general manager's meetings in Boca Raton, Florida on Wednesday.

"A lateral, back pressure or blind-side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or is the principal point of contact is not permitted. A violation of the above will result in a minor or major penalty and shall be reviewed for possible supplemental discipline."

It's not rule yet. After a proposal is made by the GM's, it is presented to the competition committee, a panel of players who vote on these proposals and are free to make recommendations to the proposed rules. Following that step, the proposal is sent to the league's Board of Governors for a vote. That group, in which Commissioner Gary Bettman serves as a moderator and only votes in the case of a tiebreaker, has the final say.

This rule does not eliminate all head shots from the game, however. Matt Cooke was not suspended for his hit on Marc Savard over the weekend because, by current rule, the hit was legal. This proposition changes that.

Still, while many believe that this proposed rule is a good first step, it doesn't necessarily eliminate head shots from the sport. It means that head shots from the front are still legal, and a rule that would have made these types of hits illegal as well would not have received unanimous support from the general managers.

The debate is far from over, as traditionalists will argue that hits to the head from the front are a part of the game and that they are 'hockey plays' designed to separate a player from the puck. Others will argue that any type of hit to the head is a blemish on the sport and should be removed from the game completely

Colin Campbell's wheel of justice spared Matt Cooke for his knockout blow to Marc Savard.  Campbell, in what might be his first show of consistency all season long, doled out the same punishment to Cooke as he did to Mike Richards for his hit on David Booth -- none. 

Pensburgh covers the story and explains why that kind of hit will no longer be legal very soon.

While hits to the head often times result in devastating injury, it's difficult to punish a player for something that can be seen as simply part of the game. The complex debate about how to treat such events has raged in the sport for years now, and it seems that a simple answer eludes us.

That is, until SBN's Kings blog, Jewels From The Crown, put forth this compelling, yet simple argument. Treat head shots like we treat another common yet dangerous occurrence in the sport: high-sticking.

Here's JFTC:

The other "concern" is that head-shots happen by accident all the time, the game moves fast, the player ducks down, etc.. How can you ban something that happens incidentally all the time?

Easy.

The same way you ban high-sticking. High-sticking, which always involves hitting a player above the shoulder (i.e. neck and head) with your stick, can be a minor, major or match penalty, depending on severity and intent. Or it can be nothing, as with a follow-through of a shot, or if, in the ref's opinion, the player who got hit with the stick was bent over such that the offending player's stick was never "high."

They go on to spell out what a head shots rule could look like in the NHL rulebook, and basing it off of the high-sticking rule, it seems to cover every possibility. It defines a head shot as 'a body check whose point of contact is above the shoulders' , it gives the referee discretion in determining the severity of a hit, and mandates that at least a double-minor penalty be handed out in the case of an injury, just like high-sticking.

The NHL is a step closer to eliminating the type of hits to the head that resulted in Boston Bruins center Marc Savard being taken off on a stretcher last Sunday.

According to the USA Today, the general managers are going to recommend stricter rules against head shots with an emphasis on supplemental discipline and repeat defenders.

"We will be redefining it and fine-tuning it (Wednesday), but clearly the blindside and the unsuspecting players is what we are targeting," Dallas general manager Joe Nieuwendyk said.

Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli has announced that center Marc Savard has a grade two concussion resulting from Matt Cooke's blindside hit on Sunday. Memory loss is what separates a grade one from a grade two concussion, as an athlete doesn't remember the events after the impact and possibly what led to the incident.

Savard, who has mentioned he is experiencing severe headaches and fatigue, will be monitored for the next few days by the Bruins. The 32-year-old has already missed a combined 23 games with a broken foot and then a right-knee injury. At this moment, there is no timetable for his return, however, Chiarelli is claiming that Savard could be out for the season.

While the decision by the NHL will come down before the Penguins face off on Thursday, Director of Hockey Operations and overall czar of suspensions, Colin Campbell, has noted that the Cooke hit was not an elbow.

While this may not be earth shattering and will not influence the level of suspension that Campbell will hand down, it does give some insight into how Campbell is looking at the matter.

After yet another vicious blow to the head of a player, the debate continues to rage this evening in the hockey world about the tolerance for these types of plays in the sport. Penguins forward Matt Cooke's hit on Boston's Marc Savard is just the latest in a long series of these types of hits, and in the ensuing debate,  as always, the opinions are varied and the arguments are complex.

We'll start with the common logic, sensibly argued by those whose fandom would lead you to believe they'd be arguing the other way on this issue. It's the fans of Matt Cooke's team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, at SBN's Pensburgh:

Matt Cooke leveled Boston's Marc Savard with 5:37 left in the game, in what's sure to be a controversial hit and something the league will have to look at.  Cooke's hit was with his shoulder and hardly a second after Savard played the puck, but it was also a dangerous hit swooping in from behind that ended up targeting the head.   Savard was concussed and stretchered off the ice.  In many ways, it was a lot like the hit that Philly's Mike Richards put on Florida's David Booth earlier in the season, which also required the stretcher. Unlike Richards (who received a major and game misconduct), Cooke, it should be noted, was not penalized by the on ice officials because the play did develop quickly and while the result was an injury, it was the circumstances that made both plays dangerous.

If the league is serious about cracking down on head shots, this is going to have to be something they take a look at, even though Cooke for his part has to play a physical game and always look to finish his checks.  Dangerous but an unavoidable part of the game?  Or something that needs further discipline to show these direct head-shots can not be tolerated?  It's a very fine line, but given Cooke's history of questionable hits, it won't be surprising or totally outrageous if he's levied with a suspension.

The comparison to the Richards hit on Booth (link to video) has been made a lot in the aftermath of Cooke's hit. In many ways, though, it's not an apt comparison.

Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy argues that point:

Geographically, that's accurate, as both occurred near the blue line in the offensive zone. But that's where the comparison ends. Richards isn't skating by, sticking out his arm. Booth quickly dished the puck rather than having shot it like Savard. They're two completely different hits, and that's a good thing: The Richards check, as devastating as it was, was a hockey play by a Selke-worthy forward; The Cooke Hit was a cheap, late hit by a player who excels at them.

Cooke clearly makes elbow contact with Savard's head on Sunday, making this an egregious violation of the rules.

Of course, the next logical step in the debate is the question of whether or not all head shots should be eliminated from the game entirely. The types of injuries that come from these hits are almost exclusively terrifying and they put careers and could potentially put lives in danger.

One way of cutting down these types of hits is making players know that they will be held accountable after dishing them out. Bruins fans are wondering where the response was.

Here's SBN's Stanley Cup of Chowder:

Where were the other 17 skaters with a Spoked-B on their chest? I realize it was a one goal game, but you have to react and make players accountable for their actions on the ice. Nobody stepped up on the B's to send a message. Sure Bergeron was chirping at Sidney Crosby for a minute, but none of the Bruins tough guys stepped up and challenged the Penguins to answer the bell for a blatant cheapshot.

The main reason that the Bruins didn't respond is likely because of the elephant in the room, the instigator penalty. The argument for removing the instigator is that when there is no threat of the it, hits like this simply won't occur because Cooke would have been held accountable for his actions by the Bruins players on the ice.

Here's James Murphy from Boston's NESN.com:

The other, more important reason for revenge rarely being served is the instigator penalty, which, in turn, helps to facilitate dirty plays (as the instigator will often get a more serious penalty than the person making the dirty play to begin with). But, unfortunately, that rule is staying for now. So until a clear-cut penalty on blindside hits is established, Cooke and others like him will go on knowing that they can play with reckless disregard for the game. The league won't allow the players to police themselves. So when will the league itself start policing the game better?

League executives and general managers from around the league are meeting this upcoming week in Florida, and this very issue is on the agenda once again. Will changes be put in place?

Whatever decision is ultimately made will have dissenters on either side, but one thing can be agreed upon by everybody: the injuries following hits to the head are terrible to witness. Let's all hope Savard gets well soon.

Marc Savard, the Bruins center who was briefly knocked unconscious by the elbow of Penguins' Matt Cooke, has been diagnosed with a concussion and will stay at the team hotel Sunday night instead of traveling to Toronto with the rest of his Bruins teammates. He was not taken to the hospital. 

Head coach Claude Julien said he expects Savard to sit out "for a while" (NHL rules mandate that he sit out at least one week because he suffered a concussion). Julien added his thoughts on what punishment Cooke should face.  

"A guy like that has to be suspended," the Bruins coach said. "That's the way I see it, because it's an elbow to the head from the blind side. That's exactly the examples they show of what we've got to get out of this game. We have a guy who's got a concussion. Our best player. He's going to be out for a while. He was [unconscious] on the ice for a bit. That's unacceptable."

There was no penalty called on the play. 

The Bruins released a statement following the game.

"Marc lost consciousness briefly on the ice after being struck in the head. He suffered a concussion from the hit. He was not transported to a hospital, but will remain at the team hotel in Pittsburgh with a member of the Bruins' medical staff tonight as a precaution."

Here's the hit put on Boston's Marc Savard by Matt Cooke of the Penguins, as was mentioned earlier. The first 50 seconds are a little useless; the slow-motion replays don't begin until 0:50 or so.

It's plain to see that Cooke's elbow, while almost admirably surreptitious, was an intentional blow to the head, and one he's pulled before (see his hit on Artem Anisimov earlier this season). And while the league has long been accused of punishing the result rather than the act, the fact is that Cooke's elbow to the head resulted in exactly the type of outcome befitting the danger involved in a hit like that.