Savard: Headshot was intended to injure

BOSTON, March 27 (UPI) -- Boston forward Marc Savard, whose season ended this month with a hit to the head, said Saturday Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke was trying to hurt him on the play.

Speaking to reporters for the first time since March 7 when he was leveled on a high-speed, blind-side shoulder-to-head check by Cooke, Savard said he's watched the video of the play and still can't recall it thanks to the lingering effects of the concussion he received.

But he said he's not ready to forgive the Pittsburgh player because he feels Cooke intentionally tried to hurt him.

"Obviously, I've viewed (the hit) a couple of times," Savard said. "I think it was a play that didn't need to happen. It was a situation to me, it wasn't a shoulder.

"I watched the (Mike) Richards-on-(Florida's David) Booth hit. I think that was a shoulder and I think mine was more of an elbow. I think there was an attempt to injure there. Obviously, I was very unhappy with what happened and it could have been avoided very easily."

The hit prompted the NHL's Board of Governors and players union to quickly agree to make blind-side hits to the head illegal.