So... apparently Vancouver Canucks forward Alex Burrows and NHL ref Stephane Auger don't exchange Christmas cards. After last night's 3-2 loss the the Nashville Predators, Burrows stirred up quite the hornets nest while doing the Jason Spezza on the exercise bike. Basically, Burrows says Auger made two penalty calls against him that were just plain terrible - one for diving in the second and one for interference in the third. (I think the diving call was borderline, the interference call was pretty brutal.) According to Burrows, the calls were 100% personal stemming back from a Canucks/Preds game in December. In that one, Burrows was hit by Preds forward Jerred Smithson, and Smithson was given a major penalty for charging and a game misconduct. Acccording to Burrows, Auger approached him during warmups last night and said something along the lines of: "You made me look bad in Nashville on the Smithson hit, and I'm going to get you back tonight. I saw the replay, you had your head up, you weren't really hurt and you made me look bad so I'm going to get you back tonight'. Here's video that could very well support Burrows' claims.
And here is what Burrows had to say after the game.
Now let's be honest, Burrows is a known diver. Not as much as he has in the past, but he's one of those guys that will hit the deck if he feels just a little bit of lumber touch his body. But having said that, if Auger said anything close to what Burrows is implying, this is going to be VERY interesting. I can't remember a time in the NHL when a referee has been proven to have made penalty calls for revenge or personal reasons. If it turns out to be true, does the league still fine (or worse yet, suspend?) Burrows for his comments? How can you? And how stupid is Auger?! If you want to exact 'revenge' against a player for making you look foolish, why would you say something before the game... TO THAT PLAYER?! It seems like Burrows has enough evidence to be proven right here, but you know Auger's union will do everything it can to protect the referee. Stay tuned... should be interesting to see how this all unfolds in the end.
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