There will be fallout for sure from the Alex Burrows-Stephane Auger saga, which came to a head after the game in Vancouver Monday.
And if Burrows' allegations are true, this is huge trouble for Auger. Burrows doesn't do himself a lot of favours on the ice, as he is an emotional sort who will tell people what he thinks.
I have a little experience with this type of situation from my playing days. I, like Burrows at times, talked too much for my own good. I never hesitated to tell an official if I thought he made a bad call. Paul Stewart was one of the officials that I butted heads with. I felt like he saw that the game revolved around him, and I told him that every chance I had. It got to the point where we hated each other - he felt I was a big mouth, I hated seeing his name on the game sheet.
But a strange thing happened. Nothing.
I never felt that Paul leaked his feelings into giving me the short end of the stick. We never spoke, and he would ignore me whenever I had a question, but he was totally professional.
I am sure I never got a break and really did I deserve one? No.
When I scored my 400th goal, he said, "Congratulations." And there was no more tension between us.
Now if Auger did what is alleged, he has crossed the line. And for all the talk about the 'fighting code' in hockey, there is a code here too. His actions can not be ignored, if indeed the proof shows that he engaged in this.
Burrows should learn a lesson here too. It took me 15 years to get it and hopefully he learns it sooner.
The referees are just guys like us - trying to do their job as best as they can. And if someone continually tells them that they suck, they won't forget. I learned late in my career to keep my mouth zipped. And though I wasn't perfect at it, I was certainly better.
Hopefully, Burrows learns now.
Got a question for Ray? Send him an email at razorsedge@tsn.ca!