Sen. John Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts, the home of the Boston Bruins, said a controversial hockey check by Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara that put a player in the hospital and even provoked a criminal investigation was not dirty and did not warrant additional sanctions.
“That’s a hit that happens all the time,” Kerry said in an interview. “What was really unfortunate about it was the post. It wasn’t till his head hit the post that it became dangerous.”
Chara’s hit to Montreal Canadiens player Max Pacioretty enraged Canadian hockey fans, and the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper called on the National Hockey League to investigate the “growing number” of head injuries in hockey.
WATCH: Chara’s big hit
Pacioretty was released from the hospital Thursday, having suffered a broken vertebra, and Montreal police are even investigating whether a crime occurred on the ice, Canada’s CBC New reported. Pacioretty said he did not want Chara prosecuted.
Kerry said the NHL made “the right decision” in declining to suspend or further punish Chara.
“You might have called interference,” a penalty given for checking a player who does not have possession of the puck, Kerry said, “but it wasn’t a hit to the head.
Kerry also said Chara wasn’t a dirty player. “Not in all his years has he ever had that kind of an issue,” Kerry said.
Kerry spoke about the matter before a charity ice hockey game between a team of lawmakers and their staff against a group of K St. lobbyists.
WATCH: A not-fully-dressed John Kerry defends Chara