NHL won't discipline Seidenberg for hit on Toews

The NHL Department of Player Safety has opted not to discipline Boston's Dennis Seidenberg for his hit on Jonathan Toews in the second period of Thursday's 3-2 Blackhawks victory.

On the play, which Hawks coach Joel Quenneville called “dangerous,” Seidenberg sent Toews into the end boards face-first, resulting in the Hawks captain missing the final minutes of the second period and all of the third and leaving his status for Saturday's showdown against the Islanders up in the air.

A league source told ESPN that the hit, on which Seidenberg was called for boarding, “didn't meet any of the required criteria for discipline — lengthy tracking by the hitter, hitter only seeing the opponent's numbers for a long time and finishing with force through the hit.”

“I went in on that 1-on-1 battle there, I thought I saw his right shoulder,” Seidenberg said of the hit. “And at the last second, he might have turned, I don't know.

“I would never want to hurt a guy. That's the last thing on my mind. I like playing hard and winning my board battles, and that's about it.”

After the game, Bruins coach Claude Julien explained his view of the hit, which occurred while the Hawks were on a 5-on-3 power play, and he seemed to put the onus on Toews to be more aware of his surroundings.

“Certainly don't like seeing those kinds of things, but this is where it's important to take care of ourselves,” Julien said. “So, I view that 5-on-3 we're going to close a gap quickly and Dennis is a strong individual. So is he supposed to get weak because of that situation? Or he just plays to his strength?

“Again, I wasn't happy. I looked at it and it could be arguable, but from my end of it, I think it's what it is. Our guys need to finish their checks and sure, you've got to be careful, but I'm sure (Toews) knew (Seidenberg) was coming.”

The other part of this story is the fact that Toews, who has a history of concussions, was allowed to play another shift before finally heading down to the locker room to be examined.

Quenneville was asked if Toews, who flew with the team to New York, had lobbied to stay out on the ice after the big hit.

“A 5-on-3, I don't think anybody would want to come off in that situation,” he said. “Certainly a competitive guy. That's where it's at.”

As for the concussion protocol?

“As a staff it's up to everybody in that situation,” Quenneville said.

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