Vancouver's Burrows blasts Ref for make up calls

[Guest EZBAKETHAGANGSTA]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=305786

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Text Transcript:

Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows did not hold back about what he felt were unjust penalty calls, ripping into NHL referee Stephane Auger after Vancouver's 3-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Monday night.

Burrows, who was called for diving in the second period and interference in the third, also received a 10-minute misconduct with seconds left in the game, and he was not shy his post-game interview.

"It was personal. It started in warmup, before the anthem," Burrows said of Auger's penalty calling. "(Augers) came over to me and he said I made him look bad in Nashville on the (Jerred) Smithson hit and he said he was going to get me back tonight."

Burrows was referring to an incident back in December when the Preds' Smithson hit Burrows and was given a major penalty for charging and a game misconduct. On Monday night, Burrows said Auger was getting back at him.

"When Smithson hit me from sideways and he (Auger) said, "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," and he did, and he cost us two points.

"He did his job in the third, I think. He got me on a diving call I didn't think was diving. He got me on an interference call that I had no idea how he could call that. It changed the game. It sucks right now for teammates who are battling 60 minutes to win a hockey game because every two points are so huge, are so important. And because of a guy's ego, it just blows everything out of proportion and the refs - they're making bad calls and the fans are paying for it and we're paying for it.

Burrows, who also had two goals in the contest, continued to lay into Augers until the Canucks' PR staff intervened to stop him.

Burrows claimed that Auger's calls were pre-meditated.

"He comes into the game and he knows he's going to make a call against me to give Nashville an advantage and I don't think that's fair for my teammates and for the fans," said Burrows.

The 28-year-old said he exchanged more words with Auger as the game was winding down.

"After my second penalty, I skated by him and he said, 'If you say a word, I'm going to kick you out,' so I didn't say a word because I still thought we could come back and win the game. But with three seconds left and a faceoff outside the zone, I thought I could tell him what I thought about him.

"I think he should stay out for the rest of the year making calls like that that are making us look bad. Every two points are so important in this league. We just blew two points because of his officiating tonight.

Burrows asked if he was afraid of possible repercussions for his comments.

"Maybe, but at the same time, I don't think it's fair for the fans, I don't think it's fair for my teammates, and I don't think it's fair for everyone to deal with that. Let's say we miss the playoffs by one point at the end of the year; that might be the game that will cost us the playoffs so it's important."

Auger and Burrows have indeed crossed paths before. Auger kicked the Pincourt, Quebec native out of a game last season in Montreal.

As for Monday night's game, Roberto Luongo said the calls were simply unprecedented.

"I'm not the type of guy to make excuses - I mean, that's not who I am, but I've never seen anything like it in my whole career," Luongo said. "That was the first time I've seen calls like that, especially when the game is on the line."

Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault weighed in after the game with some candid thoughts.

"There's a history there. We're definitely going to look into that," said Vigneault. "If those (allegations) are true, then they need to be brought up and we'll see.

"Does he (Burrows) have a legitimate case and how many times has this happened with this individual?"

The Canucks' next game is Wednesday against the Minnesota Wild.

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There's a link to the video regarding the penalties in question. Nuck's fans are going apes*** and with right reason.

I cannot belive a ref would be stupid enough to even admit it to a player...

[The Mule 0]

Well said by Burrows. Terrible calls by an absolutely awful referee. If you ask me, this idiotic f*** should be fined and fired.

[teebo 22]

burrows will probably get suspended or something, but i think hes right about that ref.

apparently auger was one of the refs that screwed brad may out of his goal against dallas earlier...the worst call ive ever seen. how does this guy still have a job?

Edited January 12, 2010 by teebo

[Yellowknife Redwing 57]

I was watching this game with a buddy tonight and I said to him "wow, there are reputation calls, but this ref really ******* hates Alex Burrows."

Turns out I was right. I know Burrows is going to get fined and probably suspended, given his candidness on the situation, but I hope the NHL decides to investigate Auger so we can finally get this idiot away from our game.

[SweWings 45]

Criticizing the ref should be alright as long as you don't curse or make unfounded allegations. He was polite and with the exception of the "he said this to me" a lot of it is quite easily verifiable. There'll be an investigation but I truly hope Burrows doesn't get a suspension, referees aren't holy men and there needs to be accountability.

[Guest scottj]

haha for some reason i had a gut feeling it was gonna be the same guy who (while not alone) f***ed brad may out of a goal... i don't know refs by their names. i'll probably remember this guy though haha

... he looks like mr. bean

Edited January 12, 2010 by scottj

[FinWing 26]

I hope this punk never refs an NHL game again. But, of course, he probably will.

[ltgator333 3]

Burrows is probably right, so he'll be suspended. Hard.

[XxGoWingsxX 0]

Bettman and Campbell will make sure Burrows is suspended, and while on suspension he'll mysteriously disappear. They wouldn't want Burrows ruining their little officiating conspiracy now would they? Lmao

[Guest Lidstromboli]

my tinfoil hat is buzzing!

[Guest Four]

Weakest calls I've ever seen.

[seeinred 1,488]

I could never quite put my finger on why I liked Burrows. Now I know at least.

[Guest mindfly]

This board would go crazy if that was a wings game and burrows was say holmstrom... lol

[superstarsingh 23]

Burrows could not be more correct.

[miksteri 55]

Auger to ref in olympics? Would surprise me if Buttman and campbell reward Auger for his excellent calls.

[kook_10 1,705]

"He did his job in the third, I think. He got me on a diving call I didn't think was diving.

How is that he "didn't think" it was diving? He was the one who did it. Either he dove or he didn't. Looks to me like he grabbed the stick and took a flop backward. From his statement it sounds like he dove, just didn't think it was a big enough dive to get called. If you got called for diving I would think you would take some offense and say "I didn't dive". The interference call was definitely weak though.

Edited January 12, 2010 by kook_10

[egroen 384]

Hate seeing this kind of reffing and have no doubt it goes on all the time.

Happy a player said something about it, and even more happy it was a player on another team (he is never going to get a favor from a ref for the rest of his career).

[Carman 387]

Burrows gained a few points for me, but he really screwed himself in the future. Refs have even longer memories than players do...

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

Good on Burrows for saying it like it is. The NHL officiating is a total joke.

In other news, we can expect the NHL thought police to suspend Burrows for the next few games, and for Bettman to hold a press conference calling his officials the best in the world.

[toby91_ca 620]

How is that he "didn't think" it was diving? He was the one who did it. Either he dove or he didn't. Looks to be like he grabbed the stick and took a flop backward. From his statement it sounds like he dove, just didn't think it was a big enough dive to get called. If you got called for diving I would think you would take some offense and say "I didn't dive". The interference call was definitely weak though.

Looking at the replay, Burrows appears to grab the stick and take a bit of a dive, but I bet if you look at replays from all games, that type of thing happens almost every shift and never gets called, that's the problem. Regardless of that, the interference call was definately suspect.

What I'm most shocked about is the comments from the ref along the lines of "I'm going to get you for it tonight....." - wonder if this is true or not.

[kook_10 1,705]

Looking at the replay, Burrows appears to grab the stick and take a bit of a dive, but I bet if you look at replays from all games, that type of thing happens almost every shift and never gets called, that's the problem. Regardless of that, the interference call was definately suspect.

What I'm most shocked about is the comments from the ref along the lines of "I'm going to get you for it tonight....." - wonder if this is true or not.

There is three sides to every story. In this case we have Burrows', probably won't hear Auger's, and probably won't get the truth. I suspect the truth was more like "I saw the replay from the game the other night and it's clear that you embellished. I'm gonna have my eye on you tonight." That's still no excuse for the s***ty interference call.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

This board would go crazy if that was a wings game and burrows was say holmstrom... lol

And they'd have every right to, just as the Canucks fans are currently.

Watching those "penalties" further reinforces Auger was out to get Burrows and the Canucks team. Regardless of what Auger said, which (if he did say it exactly like Burrows said) was incredibly stupid, the calls were beyond weak and show a clear bias.This is one the league needs to get right.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

Dan O'Halleran must have that little talk with Homer before every game.

[Echolalia 2,961]

Anyone have a video of the calls in question?

[kook_10 1,705]

Anyone have a video of the calls in question?

in the link on TSN

After looking at it a few times, it still looks like Burrows dives on the first play, although most refs would call that holding the stick and get less resistance to it.

***[it's not really about the penalties themselves, but about the alleged bias of the referee]

Edited January 12, 2010 by kook_10