Torres suspended 25 games by NHL

Raffi Torres of the Phoenix Coyotes was suspended 25 games by the NHL Saturday for a late hit that resulted in Chicago's Marian Hossa being taken off the ice on a stretcher. The ban ensures that the Coyotes' forward will miss the rest of the playoffs.

Torres left his feet to hit an unsuspecting Hossa during Game 3 on Tuesday night, smashing the Blackhawks forward into the ice. Hossa hasn't appeared again in the series.

Torres was not penalized for the hit.

"I think it's a precedent," Chicago center Brendan Morrison said Saturday, a few hours before Phoenix tried to clinch its first-round series over the Blackhawks. "We've been talking about it for so long over the course of the last couple of years and there has been more suspensions, but the message isn't getting through to guys. I don't know how it can't get through after this."

Torres' suspension is the longest since Islanders forward Chris Simon was banned 30 games for stomping on the ankle of Jarkko Ruutu in December 2007.

This is the third time Torres has been suspended for a questionable hit in the last 13 months. -- AP