Burrows accuses ref Auger of pregame threat, penalty revenge
Burrows has accused one of the NHL's referees of having a personal vendetta against him that manifested itself as a pregame threat of retribution, followed by 16 minutes in penalties against the Nashville Predators on Monday night?
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 five-minute major penalty for charging."It started in warmup 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."
Burrows was called for diving early in the period, and then for interference with 4:45 left, only four 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.
Auger was party to that insane no-goal for the Detroit Red Wings earlier this year; had previously ejected Burrows on a controversial call last February; and, most infamously, was the referee who gave Shane Doan(notes) a 10-minute misconduct after a linesman accused him of making culturally insensitive comments to Auger, who is French-Canadian. Doan vehemently denied the charge.
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 five-minute major penalty for charging."It started in warmup 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."
Burrows was called for diving early in the period, and then for interference with 4:45 left, only four 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.
Auger was party to that insane no-goal for the Detroit Red Wings earlier this year; had previously ejected Burrows on a controversial call last February; and, most infamously, was the referee who gave Shane Doan(notes) a 10-minute misconduct after a linesman accused him of making culturally insensitive comments to Auger, who is French-Canadian. Doan vehemently denied the charge.