N.H.L. Playoffs - Torres Hit on Hossa Draws Suspension - NYTimes.com CHICAGO - The Chicago Blackhawks and the Phoenix Coyotes have played three overtime thrillers in the first three games of their series, but the focus at the United Center on Wednesday - as it has been across the N.H.L. throughout the playoffs - was on suspensions, illegal hits and player safety. The league announced an indefinite suspension for the Coyotes" Raffi Torres after he leveled Marian Hossa with a shoulder to the chin during a Game 3 win Tuesday night that gave Phoenix a 2-1 series lead. Torres is the ninth player suspended in the postseason and the second in this series, prompting questions about dangerous play and whether the league should better police it. "A lot of these hits are getting out of control," the Blackhawks" Dave Bolland said. It's hurting guys, and you just never know what's going to happen. Torres appeared to leave his feet before his open-ice hit on Hossa, who lay still for several minutes before he was carried to the locker room on a stretcher. After Hossa was released from the hospital, he texted with teammates. A team statement announced his condition as encouraging but gave no timetable for his return. Blackhawks Coach Joel Quenneville said there was no further update a day later and ruled Hossa out for Thursday night's Game 4. Torres will meet with the league Friday to determine the full extent of his punishment. When the two teams face off for Game 4, the Blackhawks, too, will be missing a player to suspension. Andrew Shaw will serve the second game of a three-game ban after he collided with goalie Mike Smith behind the Phoenix net in Game 2. "The playoffs are always going to bring emotion out, and they're always going to bring intensity," said the Phoenix captain Shane Doan, attributing the increased disciplinary action in his series and around the league to a new N.H.L. philosophy, not anything on the ice. "No one's going out there trying to hurt anyone," Doan said. He added, "The league is trying to change." Torres called his actions Tuesday night a "hockey play" after the game, and Phoenix Coach Dave Tippett attempted to explain the hit, although he declined to call it clean. "I've seen a lot of other hits like it," Tippett said. I don't think there was a malicious intent like you see some of the cross checks to the face. The Blackhawks vehemently disagreed about Torres, a player with a history of suspensions after questionable hits. Exactly a year ago to the day of Hossa's injury, a Torres hit on Blackhawks" defenseman Brent Seabrook forced him out of Games 6 and 7 of last year's first-round series against the Vancouver Canucks. "There's no remorse at all with a guy like that," the Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. Have a guy carried off on a stretcher, and he probably doesn't feel bad about it at all. That's not hockey to me. Torres has served two previous suspensions from the league for illegal hits. Last season, he elbowed Edmonton's Jordan Eberle in the head and was given a four-game suspension. Earlier this season, he missed two games for charging Nate Prosser of the Minnesota Wild. This postseason was first marred by dirty play and ensuing suspension decisions when Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators smashed the face of the Detroit Red Wings" Henrik Zetterberg into the glass. Weber was fined $2,500 but not suspended. Players and coaches in Chicago were not sure whether that precedent was to blame for increased violence, but Sharp said players must respect the safety of other players, regardless of what the league does, and Bolland expressed grave concern about the direction these playoffs are headed. "You take a bad hit, that could be the end of your career," he said. It could be fatal. Sharp pointed out the impulse for retribution will be easier to ignore without Torres on the ice in Game 4. "You have to remember you're in a playoff game," Sharp said. And as much as you love your teammate, you wish him the best - but you have to play the game.