BY MARK SPECTOR
sportsnet.ca
CHICAGO - As Brent Seabrook watches from the press box tonight, Raffi Torres will skate for the Vancouver Canucks as they try to close out their series with the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Blackhawks No. 2 defenceman, a Canadian Olympian and extremely valuable player in the Blackhawks game plan, will not play in Game 4 after being crushed in that controversial hit by Torres. Asked if Seabrook had a concussion, Chicago coach Joel Quenneville would only say, "Upper body (injury)."
Six-foot-eight John Scott is likely to draw in for Seabrook, a significant downgrade on the Chicago blue-line. "We've got some defencemen who can play minutes as well," Quenneville said. "We'll share some minutes, some responsibility."
Just as Torres did against the San Jose Sharks back in '06, when he clocked Milan Michalek out of that series as an Edmonton Oiler, he has taken a very valuable player out of the Chicago lineup.
Say what you want - as long as the National Hockey League is fine with that check, then Torres is doing his job to a tee. Even Quenneville did not rail against Colin Campbell's work after the morning skate Tuesday.
"Justice would have been served if he got a major and a game," Quenneville said. "That would have been the way to deal with it. Supplemental discipline? I'll let other people deal with that."
David Bolland is expected to return from his concussion to play tonight. He hasn't played since March 9, when he was concussed by Tampa's Pavel Kubina.
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Raffi Torres chose not to speak to the media again on Tuesday. He has not been quoted since the hit in Game 3, and walked past a group of reporters who were asking for an interview on Tuesday morning.
Where players like the Sedin twins and Kevin Bieksa have forged a reputation for speaking in good times and bad - always accountable - Torres appears to be as much a hit and run guy off the ice as on.
Meanwhile, Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault figures Torres is no different than anyone else. He's learning what hits are legal (Seabrook), and which ones cross the line (Jordan Eberle).
After Chris Kunitz and Steve Downie each got just one game suspensions Tuesday for their dangerous plays, it seems impossible to tell where that line truly lies- or if it really exists at all.
"All players are continuing to be educated on what's accepted and what's not," Vigneault said. "He's like everybody else, he knows what's accepted and not. But this is still a physical game, and don't expect that part of is game to change."
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The Sedins have become the conscience of this Canucks team, leaders on and off the ice who have kept a big picture approach to this playoff run.
"This franchise hasn't done much in the last 40 years. I think we're still pretty down to earth," Henrik said Tuesday. "We want to go further than this."
Here are the Canucks, one win away from vanquishing a Blackhawks team that KO'ed their playoff chances in each of the past two seasons. But walking through the Canucks dressing room after the morning skate, it felt and sounded no different than after Game 36 of the regular season.
"It's really early yet. We haven't thought past this series," Henrik said. "We know, if we move on, we're going to face a really, really tough opponent.
Where does that calm approach come from?
"Being around Michael (Samuelsson)," Henrik said. "He's been in Detroit a few years. They had great teams, been to the dance a lot, but it's not easy to win. He won (the Stanley Cup) once there, even though they had maybe the best team for a lot of years. You have to be up there trying a few times to get a chance.
"This is the year we feel we have the best chance in a long time. But it doesn't mean we're going to go all the way."
Mark Spector is the lead columnist for Sportsnet.ca
Follow me on Twitter.com @SportsnetSpec
