Marian Hossa took a vicious shot to the back of the head that left him motionless on the ice, last night. The perpetrator, Jannik Hansen, says it wasn’t malicious. Was it?

As the sport of hockey grows increasingly violent — especially around playoff time — it was only a matter of time before something truly brutal and inexcusable happened. The NHL has decided that Raffi Torres putting the hurt on Marian Hossa in Game 3 of the Coyotes-Blackhawks series was such an event. Torres will sit out the next 25 games. The NHL explains, after the jump.

When the NHL rejected Ilya Kovalchuk’s new Devils contract, some couldn’t believe the NHL actually took a stand. But yesterday an arbitrator held up that stand, and Kovalchuck is officially back up for grabs.

As the story turned this week to whether the Blackhawks can win their first championship since 1961, attention focused on one man: Marian Hossa. While the 31-year-old veteran is undoubtedly a player that the Flyers will have to shut down to have a chance at victory, Hossa is making headlines not for his on-ice contributions, but for the growing perception that he’s, well, cursed. Let’s just label him unlucky.