Philadelphia Flyers assistant coach Craig Berube’s remarks adds to rivalry with Pittsburgh Penguins-NHL News
Only when the National Hockey League (NHL) officials were hoping that the tense atmosphere between the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins cools down to some extent, the rivalry has taken another step forward courtesy of a controversial statement
from Flyers’ assistant coach, Craig Berube.
In an interview to the Comcast SportsNet, Berube called Penguins’ players with some unpleasant references, adding fuel to the fire of confrontation and tension between the two teams.
He said:
"Crosby and Malkin are the dirtiest players on their hockey team. They slash, they punch guys in the face - they do all these little things."
He, however, defended his player, Brayden Schenn, who was involved in a cross-check to Penguins’ captain, Sidney Crosby, in the middle of his back, which made him to fall down on the ice.
According to the coach:
"I have no problem with what Schenn does. If someone runs him [Crosby] over, that's great; they should run him over. This guy gets away with too much, in my opinion. He whines to the refs all day and all night. It's a joke."
His check resulted in the positioning of four tough guys on the ice by Penguins and did not waste much time before knocking down some of the players from the opposition.
First one to go was Flyers’ centre, Danny Briere, after Penguins’ Joe Vitale laid a hit on him. Vitale was also instrumental in bringing down another couple of players.
The situation brought Flyers’ coach, Peter Laviolette and Penguins’ assistant coach, Tony Granato face-to-face, confronting each other with screams and shouts.
Both officials were penalised by the NHL after the game, fining them $10,000 and $2500, respectively. It was expected then that the situation will calm down.
Now, Flyers’ assistant coach said that there was no need for putting tough guys on the ice for Penguins when they knew that the game had already been decided in their (Flyers) favour.
He said it was deliberately done by Penguins’ coach and with the intent of sending a message to Flyers. He severely criticised the move.
The latest controversial remarks from Flyer’s coach now are set to add to the controversy. It is not clear yet if the league office is going to take note of his remarks and possibly punish him.
Even if he successfully escapes the punishment, his outburst is not going to serve any good to the efforts of bringing both sides at peace with each other.
There has been no comment from either of the sides about the controversial environment the game was played in and all the sides were hoping that their relationship will improve as the time goes by.
Tags: