At some point on the Blue Jackets' upcoming trip through western Canada, wingers Jason Williams and Raffi Torres will try to hook up for dinner. Torres should probably pick up the tab.

On Nov. 8, 2006, Torres, then with the Edmonton Oilers, levied one of the hardest clean hits in recent NHL memory.

It sent Williams, then playing for the Detroit Red Wings, spinning through the air. He crashed face-first to the ice before sliding to a stop against the corner boards. He was taken off the ice on a stretcher, suffered a concussion and needed 30 stitches to close a cut that ran from the bridge of his nose to the right side of his forehead.

The scar is still visible, but any hard feelings have long since faded. And that's good news for the Blue Jackets.

Williams, acquired in a trade Wednesday, will make his Jackets debut tonight against the New Jersey Devils in Nationwide Arena.

Torres, out since Dec. 1 after knee surgery, will make his return to the lineup.

The two will go from sharing starring roles in a scary YouTube clip to sharing a dressing room.

"That was awhile ago," Williams said, referring to the hit. "When you're on different teams, things are going to happen. I'm sure there are a few guys in this room who have fought each other.

"When you're on the same team, you sort of forget about those things and you want to play for each other. I don't hold anything against him. I'm sure we'll have a few dinners together and talk about it."

Williams met all of his new teammates yesterday, including Torres.

"It was just a 'Hey, how's it going?' " Torres said. "I'm excited to have him here. He's going to help us out."

Asked if he joked with Williams about the hit, Torres paused: "I don't really know him that well yet."

Torres vividly recalls the hit.

"(Oilers coach Craig MacTavish), a couple of shifts before that, told me to get my (stuff) together," Torres said. "So I just said to myself, 'I better do something good out there.' "

Williams was carrying the puck behind the Oilers' goal in an attempt to score a wraparound goal. He had his head down, following the puck, as it was kicked into the slot by Edmonton goaltender Dwayne Roloson.

Torres closed in with great speed, dropping a shoulder into Williams.

"I haven't been hit like that before or since," Williams said. "You have to keep your head, I guess, right?

"The cut was the worst of it. I felt pretty good two days later."

Williams missed only three games, but he was dealt to Chicago four months later at the trade deadline. It's the only concussion of his career, he said.

"I wasn't the same player for a while after that," Williams said. "Detroit might have felt the same way, too. I tried to come back and do my thing, but I didn't really feel better until the next season.

"It was a clean hit. I've said that since it happened and that's part of what makes this game a great game. I've got no hard feelings for (Torres). It would be crazy to. He's a tough player who was just playing his game.

"I'm just excited to be his teammate."

aportzline@dispatch.com