Hossa on Torres hit: I’ve turned the page, but haven’t forgotten

There’s the potential for drama tonight when the Chicago Blackhawks take on the Coyotes in Phoenix — the first time Hossa and Raffi Torres have met since Torres’ knocked Hossa out of action.

The drama, though, is something Marian Hossa wants to downplay.

“It’s a thing you don’t forget, but I [turned] that page and this is another season,” he told CSN Chicago. “For me, it’s just another game. I don’t worry about anything else.”

Thursday’s game will mark the second Coyotes-’Hawks contest since “the hit” during the opening round of last year’s playoffs, but the first with Torres in the lineup.

The 31-year-old was suspended 25 games for his actions — appealed down to 21 — and quietly returned to the Coyotes lineup last Saturday.

Hossa spent months recovering from a concussion and was only medically cleared to return to action in December, yet seems to harbor no desire for retribution against Torres.

“I think it’ll be a normal game; I don’t expect anything,” he said. “For me it’s just another game. I don’t worry about anything else.”

It’s possible the real fireworks of this situation could be saved for Apr. 20, when Phoenix makes its first and only return to the scene of last April’s crime.

Chicago, you’ll recall, was incensed by the Torres hit and took its frustrations out in a number of ways — Coyotes’ announcer Tyson Nash claimed he received death threats, Chicago’s police Superintendent said Torres’ hit was “borderline criminal conduct” and the Chicago Sun-Times put Torres on the back cover of the newspaper with the headline “PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1“

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“Whatever happens out there, happens out there,” says Torres on facing Blackhawks

Raffi Torres’ return to action was uneventful and that’s just fine