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Chara reaches out to Pacioretty but Mark Recchi thinks Montreal embellished his injury

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Tomorrow night Boston faces off against Montreal for the first time since the Zdeno Chara-Max Pacioretty incident in Montreal. With the game set to take place in Boston, the dynamic isn’t quite as intense as it would be if it were going down in Montreal, but the specter of that hit and that “hockey play” still hangs over both teams.

On one side of the coin, Zdeno Chara has been doing his part to attempt to soothe the rough waters that separate the two teams by attempting to reach out to Pacioretty in an effort to speak with him. CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty has the story from Boston about how the Bruins captain is trying to do the noble thing in the wake of a horrifying hit.

Without going into details, Chara said he’s reached out to Pacioretty several times over the last few weeks, but Pacioretty hasn’t responded.

The B’s defenseman may have attempted to go through Pacioretty’s Michigan teammate, Steve Kampfer, to get in touch with the Montreal winger, but that’s not something Chara was elaborating on.

“I’ve made a few attempts [to contact Pacioretty], but he hasn’t responded back yet. So far, nothing,” said Chara. “I’m glad he’s doing much better and he’s probably going to be playing based on the reports that we’ve heard. I’m glad he’s going to be fine. That’s good news.”


It’s good to see Chara is at least attempting to do something. It’s perfectly understandable that Pacioretty may not want to speak to him given that he suffered a broken vertebra in his neck and a severe concussion thanks to Chara’s hit.

Interesting thing about that severe concussion, however, is that apparently there are some in Boston who debate whether or not Pacioretty actually suffered that concussion as seriously as the Canadiens reported his condition. When news came out that Pacioretty was feeling better and started talking about potentially playing in the playoffs, the eyebrows perked up everywhere, especially in Boston.

Unfortunately, one of those people in Boston debating this is veteran Mark Recchi. On 98.5 The Sports Hub, Recchi was speaking on the Felger & Mazz show when he was asked if he was bothered if Pacioretty “embellished” his injury. Recchi indulged the hosts with this reply:

“When there’s an injury that’s... You know he does have a fractured vertebra, but the concussion was obviously really a non-factor. Maybe a day or two. Maybe a day he felt it and then he was fine a couple days later. I believe, yeah, they were trying to get Zdeno suspended and they embellished it a little bit.”

Hello there bulletin board material, nice to see you again in a white-hot rivalry.

Throwing gasoline on the fire is Boston’s Milan Lucic who was also sounding off on the air today. Haggerty tweeted a pair of quotes from the Bruins power forward that are rather stunning. In thinking back on Patrice Bergeron and his concussion issues Lucic said, ""I remember (Bergeron) after his hit like it was yesterday. He couldn’t even open the blinds at his house for two months.”

Of course when concussions are talked about today Sidney Crosby is discussed and Lucic didn’t forget about him either. “If you ask Sidney Crosby I’m pretty sure he’d tell you he hasn’t been able to go to the movies over the last 2 months.”

While Chara attempting to reach out to Pacioretty makes for a warmer side to this ugly story, it appears the Bruins are content with playing the role of villains in this rivalry. Of course, all this mouthing off could work out against them as Montreal is persevering with injuries of their own and they’re just three points behind the Bruins in the Northeast Division.

A win by the Habs tomorrow night makes things that much more perilous for the Bruins the rest of the way. They’d been sitting pretty atop the division most of the year but now with Montreal playing great and surging, they could find themselves on the road to start the first round of the playoffs if they’re not careful.

We’re not expecting there to be a blood war on the ice between these two like we saw in Boston a couple months ago, and NHL officials have spoken with the teams to tell them they’d better be on their best behavior. We’ll settle for a fast paced, up and down game without any of the side show antics and with all the heat of a playoff game. After all, it’s possible these two might just see each other come playoff time.