Brian McGrattan not impressed with former team-mate Chris Neil’s actions
Brian McGrattan, the Boston Bruins’ enforcer, was once the team-mate of Ottawa Senators counterpart Chris Neil. Lately, he has admitted that he is not impressed with Neil’s recent actions.
On Saturday, 30 October, Neil engaged in a fight against Bruins defenceman Dennis Seidenberg during a game that the Bruins would go on to win by a score of 4-0.
Seidenberg is not known around the league as a fighter, but he accepted Neil’s challenge. A punch from Neil opened up a cut above Seidenberg’s left eye, and the two were later sent off
with fighting majors. Neil got an extra two-minute penalty for roughing.
“I heard about it,” McGrattan said of the fight. “That’s typical Chris Neil. I had to protect that guy for three years when I was there (in Ottawa). He’d do that and I’d have to fight
all his battles for him the next time we’d play a team after he’d do something stupid like that. It doesn’t surprise me.”
McGrattan and Neil both played for the Senators from 2005 until 2008, when McGrattan departed for the Phoenix Coyotes via free agency. He would later go on to play for the Calgary Flames
in 2009-10, after which he signed a one-year contract with Bruins. While McGrattan has bounced around the league for the past few seasons, Neil has remained with the Senators.
“That’s the way he does it,” McGrattan said. “He’ll do something where he knows he’ll get kicked out of the game and won’t have to come back and fight anybody. I’ve been around him long
enough to know he does that. Then I’m the one who usually has to fight his battles the next time. It’s typical.”
Ottawa play their next game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, 2 November, while Boston faces the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday, 3 November.
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