SAN JOSE — The league has come down on Raffi Torres, and come down hard.
On Monday, the NHL announced that the 33-year-old Sharks forward has been suspended for 41 games, or half of the NHL’s 82-game regular season, for hitting Anaheim’s Jakob Silfverberg with an illegal check to the head on Saturday in the Sharks’ preseason finale.
In the official explanation video, the NHL Department of Player Safety ruled that the hit was not only illegal in that Silfverberg’s head was the main point of contact, but it was also late and would have been considered interference.