QUEBEC CITY – Montreal police started a criminal investigation Thursday into the on-ice hit by Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins that left Max Pacioretty of the Montreal Canadiens with a severe concussion and cracked vertebra.

Police said they are acting on a request by Quebec’s director of criminal and penal prosecutions, Louis Dionne. They added that after evidence is collected, it will be determined if there are grounds for prosecution.

Chara took part in the Bruins’ morning skate before Thursday night’s home game against Buffalo. He didn’t speak at length on the investigation but did acknowledge it.

“I got some media information on that this morning,” he said. “But like I said, right now I’m focusing on playing my game and playing hockey.”

The NHL said Wednesday it wouldn’t suspend Chara for Tuesday night’s hit, when he slammed Pacioretty into a glass partition.

Commissioner Gary Bettman defended that decision after a congressional panel discussion about encouraging youngsters to play hockey.

“Our hockey operations people are extraordinarily comfortable with the decision they made,” he said, according to The Canadian Press. “It was a horrific injury, we’re sorry that it happened in our fast-paced physical game, but I don’t think whether or not supplemental discipline was imposed would change what happened and, in fact, the people in the game who I have heard from, almost to a person believe that it was handled appropriately by hockey operations.”

He also said there’s no need to “over-legislate” hits to the head.

The Canadiens’ owner, Geoff Molson, said in an open letter to the team’s fans Thursday that “the Montreal Canadiens organization does not agree” with the league’s decision and he made his position clear to Bettman.

“The news of the NHL decision was a hard blow for both the players and fans of the Montreal Canadiens,” wrote Molson, who noted that Bettman had agreed to make the issue a priority at the league’s general managers’ meetings next week in Florida. “It was one which shook the faith that we, as a community, have in this sport that we hold in such high regard.”

In Toronto, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the NHL, “for its own sake,” should look seriously at the increase in serious injuries.

He declined to comment on the hit on Pacioretty.

Bruins Coach Claude Julien said he wouldn’t comment too much “because no matter what your answer, there’s always going be two sides to that. We’re supportive of our player. We know he didn’t do it on purpose. It wasn’t intentional. I said that (Wednesday).

“But at the same time, I understand their frustration at the other end because we’ve been on the other side of the coin, and it’s normal to be frustrated and I understand them as well. And that’s basically my thoughts on that.”

This cloud now hovers over the Bruins, the leaders of the Northeast Division.

“There’s still things hanging over our heads right now. It doesn’t seem to want to disappear. And those are situations that are unfortunate, and they’re not easy to deal with for anybody, whether it’s the organization, the players and everybody involved here,” Julien said.

“It’s not an easy situation because we understand that there’s a player that’s injured at the other end. As I mentioned earlier, we’ve had that happen to us. It goes past the game itself. We’re talking about individuals. We don’t wish that on anybody. And that kind of stuff doesn’t disappear overnight.”