The 2009-2010 Suspension Thread

[Balzinsker 0]

Phaneuf committed another mugging on a race for an icing touch that again was not called. At least this time he didn't hammer the guy but why aren't the refs calling him on it?

In that particular game against Vancouver the refs weren't calling much, so that's the main reason he got away with it. But he stills gets away with a lot of stuff just because he's Dion Phaneuf but one day he'll meet someone just as dirty and crazy as he is, and it'll be Stevens/Lindros redux.

[mik3 1]

Gonchar's probably going to get a game or two for his hit to Clutterbuck's head tonight. The hockey intelligent Minnesota crowd wasn't too mad at it, it was pretty dirty though.

[mack 44]

Oh no, that's going to kill their PP for a game.

[KingPest19 0]

So the league gave Jovanovski 2 games for his elbow the face of Tavares?

[Law Goalie 147]

One or both of Burrows and Stephane Auger will be suspended; my money is on Burrows, unless a mic caught what he claims Auger said to him before the game - which I very much doubt. I bet that conversation didn't sound much like the one Burrows describes.

[BenderHockey 127]

One or both of Burrows and Stephane Auger will be suspended; my money is on Burrows, unless a mic caught what he claims Auger said to him before the game - which I very much doubt. I bet that conversation didn't sound much like the one Burrows describes.

I know several refs in the area who have that attitude, and even in the beer leagues they aren't dumb enough to announce it before the game!!

[JohnnyCanuck 0]

Lawgoalie, did you happen to watch them game?

What Burrows said after the game, after cooling off, and riding the bikes, was absolutely an accurate portrayal of how the third period was officiated.

Auger should be tossed out of the game for good after this, ffs this is the same ref that was involved in Doan's "racist comment" saga.

This guy has an ego bigger than both Jim Balsillie and Gary Bettman. There is nothing more dangerous than an official that thinks any of the near 20 thousand people paid a cent to watch him.

He is a F%$KING loser and cost the Canucks at minimum 1 point last night, perhaps two considering the Nucks were on a PP and then suddenly 30 seconds later were on the 4-3 PK, with two phantom calls. The Burrows "interference" Call was horsebleep at best and the Sedin call was laughable.

\

I have had douchebag officials say crap like this to me before beer league games, why is it so hard to imagine some twat NHL ref would do the same?

[chippa13 1844]

I highly doubt that a NHL referee would be stupid enough to have said something like that. My bet, it was probably more along the lines of, "You fooled us the last time, don't think we'll be buying it tonight."

Burrows could have prevented the whole shenanigans by simply doing one thing, never embellishing but that is probably too much to ask from that guy.

[Chadd 916]

One or both of Burrows and Stephane Auger will be suspended; my money is on Burrows, unless a mic caught what he claims Auger said to him before the game - which I very much doubt. I bet that conversation didn't sound much like the one Burrows describes.

I know several refs in the area who have that attitude, and even in the beer leagues they aren't dumb enough to announce it before the game!!

I worked a youth game prior to a preseason NHL game a few years back where, as we did with the usual AHL games, we shared a locker room with the pro refs. One of the two refs was pretty cool, we traded pleasantries as we showered and hurried to get out of the room as quickly as we could to give them some privacy prior to the game. The other was a flaming asshole. Bitching and moaning about our presence, yelling at rink personnel and acting like a douche in general. The other guys (ref/linesmen) on the crew were all immediately in a different mood the second this guy walked into the room.

Long story- short, (if the accusations are true) Auger isn't the only one.

[JohnnyCanuck 0]

Burrows is 0one of those guys that polarizes fans, like a Pronger or Phaneuf or (insert general jackass here)

You love to have him on your team and hate him if he plays anywhere else.

He is not regarded as a "diver" or "whiner" he is regarded as a pest or agitator that plays the game on the razors edge of legality at all times.

That doesn't mean that he is going to make some stuff up after a game... Alain Vignault, Roberto Luongo, and many other pundits, players, and stakeholders have made public comments on this today already, and none of them have any sort of reputation for doing so.

Where there is smoke there is fire. I don't think Burrows could have made that up if he tried to.

[JohnnyCanuck 0]

FYI: Bob McKenzie's take on the situation and great clarity on last nights events: http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/bob_mckenzie/?id=305809

[chippa13 1844]

Just read that myself. A few things that stood out to me.

But Burrows needs to understand that if he's going to do something – embellish a hit and/or fake injury to draw a major penalty – that ultimately embarrasses the ref, there's going to be payback at some point. That's hockey. And while the Canucks can be outraged, and rightfully so at how last night's game went down, it wouldn't be a bad idea for someone from management or another veteran player on the team to take Burrows aside and explain that refs are only human and if you rub their nose in it, you're going to get it back.

And if Burrows and the Canucks think they will ever come out ahead on this one – if they intend to play the 'victim' card with gusto – there is the potential for a lot of really ticked off NHL referees who don't like seeing one of their brothers hung out to dry for trying to teach a player a lesson about what happens in the old school when you embarrass or humiliate an NHL referee

[JohnnyCanuck 0]

chippa, you are absolutely correct.

However, IF auger did in fact address this with Burrows pre-game, like video evidence that seemingly corroborates Burrow's claims, then perhaps Some NHL Official Vets need to take Auger aside and tell him why he got/should be suspended and or fined.

I also highly doubt that Burrows is intending to embarrass an official by staying down an extra 30 seconds if he is hammered in a questionable hit. Who's to say he didn't have his bell rung, or the wind knocked out of him? All he is trying to do is draw a penalty so his teammates can go on a Powerplay. he is not intentionally trying to show up a ref. That is a reach at the best of times. I have shown up refs in the past, I have run a guy over, got a call blown against me I didn't like, then come out of the box, pick off a d to d pass, score on a breakaway then skated right over to the ref and said to him "You can't keep me down, that one was dedicated to you" in which case I ended up back in the box every time I looked in anyone's direction for the rest of the game. That was 10 years ago, and I have grown up some. That is embarrassing a ref (and embarassing for me to admit now 10 years on), diving or embellishing an incident is not, it is trying to draw the penalty and that is it.

Last night, not 10 seconds after Sedin was sent to the box, Mason Raymond was railroaded on a questionable hit, nowhere near the puck, and no call, which was weird considering the two calls that came before the play against Hank Sedin and Burrows. I'd say the amount of noncalls that were not blown against the Preds last night had just as much to do with the Nucks being called for suspect plays last night.

Also, I doubt the NHL refs would hold that axe to grind for the rest of the year, all that would do is give an excuse to Vignault and every Nuck player who feels hard done by the refs at the end of every game for the rest of the year, and the NHL HQ would be having to watch every game the nucks play in with a magnifying glass on the officials to ensure everything is on the up and up.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=ap-b...p&type=lgns

Whole article after the click, here is the juice..(also, evidence below quote)

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(notes) 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(notes) 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.”

TSN Video showing Auger saying something to Burrows in pre-game warm up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S3-pU9EoCU...player_embedded

And the penalties in question...

[JohnnyCanuck 0]

We have already been discussing it here: http://www.modsquadhockey.com/forums/index...0&start=330

[AdamCV 0]

Too bad he will probably be fined and possibly suspended. I watched the highlites of the calls and should be called lowlights. What a joke tht ref was with those calls.

I agree with Burrows, suspend the ref for the rest of the year. Just a joke!!

[Chadd 916]

Topics merged, thanks for the video links.

The Sedin penalty was pretty obvious, the second one on Burrows were pretty weak. First one should have been a stick hold on Burrows, not a dive.

[chippa13 1844]

chippa, you are absolutely correct.

However, IF auger did in fact address this with Burrows pre-game, like video evidence that seemingly corroborates Burrow's claims, then perhaps Some NHL Official Vets need to take Auger aside and tell him why he got/should be suspended and or fined.

I also highly doubt that Burrows is intending to embarrass an official by staying down an extra 30 seconds if he is hammered in a questionable hit. Who's to say he didn't have his bell rung, or the wind knocked out of him? All he is trying to do is draw a penalty so his teammates can go on a Powerplay. he is not intentionally trying to show up a ref. That is a reach at the best of times. I have shown up refs in the past, I have run a guy over, got a call blown against me I didn't like, then come out of the box, pick off a d to d pass, score on a breakaway then skated right over to the ref and said to him "You can't keep me down, that one was dedicated to you" in which case I ended up back in the box every time I looked in anyone's direction for the rest of the game. That was 10 years ago, and I have grown up some. That is embarrassing a ref (and embarassing for me to admit now 10 years on), diving or embellishing an incident is not, it is trying to draw the penalty and that is it.

Last night, not 10 seconds after Sedin was sent to the box, Mason Raymond was railroaded on a questionable hit, nowhere near the puck, and no call, which was weird considering the two calls that came before the play against Hank Sedin and Burrows. I'd say the amount of noncalls that were not blown against the Preds last night had just as much to do with the Nucks being called for suspect plays last night.

Also, I doubt the NHL refs would hold that axe to grind for the rest of the year, all that would do is give an excuse to Vignault and every Nuck player who feels hard done by the refs at the end of every game for the rest of the year, and the NHL HQ would be having to watch every game the nucks play in with a magnifying glass on the officials to ensure everything is on the up and up.

The point of embellishing or diving is to fool the ref into making a call or turning a 2 into a 5. Explain how that is not embarrassing to a ref who sees a different angle replay that proves the Luganis move or shows the guy smiling while talking to the trainer who is tending to the "injury". Fans at home see those, fans in the stands see those, the NHL offices see those. Referees do not like being made the sucker, especially when they think they are doing right by you. Anytime you dive you are showing up the ref because you are saying, "I am smarter than you, you are going to make a call that isn't there."

[JohnnyCanuck 0]

I will agree with you again Chippa, good call, never thought of it that way, it is embarassing to the ref, but the player isn't intending to embarass the official, it is a repercussion of trying to get your team an advantage.

That being said, we have an unamed official commenting to Mark Spector here, no solidarity amongst the herd of Zebra's today...

Asked by sportsnet.ca what referees do when a player like Burrows, who is known for diving, burns them the way Burrows did to Auger back in December, an NHL ref said Tuesday, "You file it away in the back of your cranium.

"You wait until you get a game where the score is 5-1, and then you might call him for something. You just say, 'We'll meet up again one day.' But you don't hurt the team. You wait for the score to be 5-1."

As for the video of Auger speaking to Burrows before the game, the official said, "You don't even have to be a ref to figure it out. Don't leave the gun at the scene with your fingerprints all over it."

so this ref is saying you act like an elephant, and never forget, but that Auger was wrong in sticking it to the Nucks and not just Burrows...

source: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2010/01/12/...auger_burrows/#

as much as Burrows earlier actions may or may not have unjustly/justly cost his team 1 or 2 points last night, Auger did more than his fair share of embarrassing the NHL referees and linos as well.

[chippa13 1844]

I don't doubt that refs remember who the divers are but I'm not so sure they make vendetta calls against them. On the other side, it may appear that non-calls are vendettas when in fact the ref is just not sure anything really happened. Divers are much like the boy who cried wolf, there might actually be a stick in the skates on the third flop buy you won't fool me thrice.

[BenderHockey 127]

I find it very disappointing that Auger has seemingly gone out of his way to 1) make his vendetta so obvious, and 2) to include bending Vancouver over as a whole, instead of just Burrows.

I know refs file stuff away. I have on occasion when I used to ref. You just don't make it all about you, and you certainly don't make it obvious.

[JohnnyCanuck 0]

Blast from the past (Vendetta's and all that)

Doan found himself in trouble after Coderre, an MP from the northeastern Montreal riding of Bourassa, wrote to Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson.

In the letter, copies of which were released to the media, Coderre asked Nicholson to expel the Coyotes captain from Canada's Olympic team unless he formally apologized for making an alleged ethnic slur against francophones.

During the Dec. 13 contest at Montreal's Bell Centre, referee Stéphane Auger assessed Doan a 10-minute misconduct penalty after concluding he verbally abused an official and made culturally insensitive comments against the referees. Both referees and both linesmen for the game were francophones.

The NHL reviewed the allegations and Colin Campbell, the league's executive vice-president and director of hockey operations, concluded that the allegation had proven to be baseless. The NHL did not take any additional disciplinary action against Doan.

Shortly after Coderre contacted Hockey Canada, Doan's lawyer sent a letter to Coderre, stating that the Coyotes forward considered his allegations to be "defamatory," and that his client would pursue legal action if no formal retraction was made within 10 days.

Doan, a native of Halkirk, Alta., has publicly denied the allegations and has always maintained that Coderre wrongfully accused him.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/20...an20060117.html

I seem to remeber it came out in the wash afterwards that it was Ladislav Nagy that made the comments...

as far as officials abusing power... it is not isolated to just the NHL:

And then there was the ongoing feud between Javie and 76ers superstar Allen Iverson. The rift was so bad that Philadelphia general manager Billy King often called the league office to complain about Javie's treatment of Iverson during a game.

Iverson was eventually traded to Denver, and in his first game against his former team, he was tossed after two technicals. Afterward, Iverson implied Javie had a grudge against him, saying, "I thought I got fouled on that play, and I said I thought that he was calling the game personal, and he threw me out. His fuse is real short anyway, and I should have known that I couldn't say anything anyway. It's been something personal with me and him since I got in the league. This was just the perfect game for him to try and make me look bad." The league fined Iverson $25,000 for his comments, but most of the league referees thought the punishment was too lenient and were upset he wasn't suspended. As a result, we collectively decided to dispense a little justice of our own, sticking it to Iverson whenever we could.

Shortly after the Javie-Iverson incident, I worked a Jazz-Nuggets contest in Denver on January 6, 2007. During the pregame meeting, my fellow referees Bernie Fryer and Gary Zielinski agreed that we were going to strictly enforce the palming rule against Iverson. Palming the ball was something Iverson loved to do, but if he so much as came close to a palm, we were going to blow the whistle. Obviously, our actions were in direct retaliation for Iverson's rant against Javie. True to form, I immediately excused myself and made an important phone call.

Sticking to our pregame pledge, each of us whistled Iverson for palming in the first quarter — we all wanted in on the fun. The violations seemed to affect Iverson's rhythm and he played terribly that night, shooting 5-for-19 with five turnovers. After getting repeatedly whistled all night long, Iverson approached me in an act of submission.

"How long am I going to be punished for Javie?" he quietly inquired.

"Don't know what you're talking about, Allen," I responded.

http://deadspin.com/5392067/excerpts-from-...ant-you-to-read

[chippa13 1844]

So the slur was uttered, they just got the wrong guy. I don't know if I would call that a vendetta, just mistaken identity, especially given the fact that Doan seems to be one of those players who "gets it" and isn't a flopper or the like.

[Chadd 916]

Back in the 80s the celtics were up around 60 wins a season for most of the decade, but they had a losing record when one particular ref worked their games. I want to say it was Darrel Garretson, but I could be wrong on that.

[KingPest19 0]

Did anyone post this one yet?

Gonhar with an elbow to the head of Clutterbuck.