Canucks' Burrows blasts referee's calls
Vancouver forward Alex Burrows got a 10-minute misconduct for
telling referee Stephane Auger what he thought of him late in
Monday night's 3-2 loss to Nashville.
Burrows could be facing punishment from the NHL after sharing
his opinion with the media after the game, including accusations
Auger targeted him and promised to get revenge.
Burrows scored twice, but was in the penalty box for a second
time when Nashville's Shea Weber scored the game-winner with 4:03
to play.
He said Auger approached him before the game and told him he
was going to get him back for embellishing a Dec. 8 hit in
Nashville that left Burrows crumpled on the ice, and resulted in
Predators forward Jerred Smithson receiving a 5-minute major
penalty for charging.
"It was personal," Burrows said. "It started in warm up
before the anthem. The ref came over to me and said I made him look
bad in Nashville on the Smithson hit. He said he was going to get
me back tonight and he did his job in the third."
Auger and the officiating crew declined to comment when
approached by The Associated Press as they were leaving the arena.
Burrows was called for diving early in the period, and then
for interference with 4:45 left, just 4 seconds into a Vancouver
power play. Linemate Henrik Sedin received his third penalty of the
game 18 seconds later and Weber scored the winning goal on a
4-on-3.
"He called me on a diving call. I didn't think was diving, he
got me on an interference call. I have no idea how he could call
that and it changed the game," Burrows said, adding his teammates
"are battling hard for 60 minutes to win a hockey game because
every two points are so huge, so important, and because of a guy's
ego it just blows everything out of proportion and they're making
bad calls and the fans are paying for it and we're paying for it."
Burrows received a third penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct
and a 10-minute misconduct with less than 4 seconds left in the
game.
"After my second penalty I skated by him and he said 'If you
say a word I am going to kick you out,' so I didn't say a word
because I still thought we could come back and win the game,"
Burrows said. "But with 3 seconds left and the faceoff outside the
zone I thought I could tell him what I thought about him."
Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said the team would look into
Burrows' allegations about Auger.
"There's a history there," Vigneault said. "We're definitely
going to look into that. If those (allegations) are true, then
they'll need to be brought up."
Asked if he expects to be suspended for his comment, Burrows
said, 'Maybe, I don't know, but I think he should sit out the rest
of the year making calls like that."
