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Friday, April 27, 2001
Canucks, coach both hit with fines
Associated Press
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Vancouver Canucks coach Marc
Crawford was fined $15,000 Tuesday for criticizing officials
after Game 3 of the Western Conference quarterfinals against the
Colorado Avalanche.
At the same time, the Canucks were fined $10,000 for violating
the league's media policy.
"I appreciate the league has to support the officials and from
where I stand I can't make comments on the officiating," Crawford
said Tuesday. "I've been fined for that reason so that's the only
comment I'll make."
Crawford received total support from the Vancouver front office.
"I understand that the NHL has to protect its officials, but I
will pay the fine cheerfully," general manager Brian Burke said.
"I'm glad Marc spoke to the media instead of myself because I
think I would have gone even harder."
Crawford complained about an overtime penalty against Todd
Bertuzzi that negated a Vancouver power play in the game the
Avalanche won 4-3 to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 series.
"I don't think we got a fair shake at the end, and I think the
emotional control that the referees showed was absolutely
horrendous," Crawford said. "Todd Bertuzzi at the end of a play
wrestles their guy to the ground, and all of a sudden their referee
is going to be a big hero at the end of the game and make it a
four-on-four."
Bertuzzi's infraction came after Avalanche forward Steven
Reinprecht was called for hooking when held up Daniel Sedin 2:07
into overtime. After the whistle, Bertuzzi wrestled down Colorado
defenseman Eric Messier, shoved him face first into the ice and
received a roughing penalty that negated the Vancouver power play.
"I was glad to see the referee gave them a penalty because my
nose was bleeding, my face was bleeding and they made the right
call," said Messier, who needed four stitches to close the gash
across the bridge of his nose.
Peter Forsberg scored the winner 43 seconds later.
"It can be a little bit of sour grapes for us because we lost,
but it's the way we lost," Crawford said after the game. "These
guys are supposed to be veteran officials. They are supposed to be
above it all and I thought they were the ones that lost their
composure. I thought they were argumentative all night and I
thought that call at the end of the game was inexplicable."
Crawford also questioned whether the referees got the right guy
when they whistled Reinprecht for the original penalty in overtime.
Replays showed they made the correct call.
"They got the wrong guy, the wrong guy in overtime served the
penalty for them," Crawford said. "There's a big difference
between the size of Rob Blake and the size of Steven Reinprecht. We
talked to them, but no talking back to them because they know it
all and they're above it all. That's a tough pill to swallow when
you make a mistake – and you compound it by putting the wrong guy
in the box."
Colin Campbell, the league's director of hockey operations,
called Crawford's comments "entirely inappropriate."
Colorado coach Bob Hartley agreed.
"I d rather let my players do the talking on the ice," Hartley
said after his team practiced Tuesday morning. "It was a
well-officiated game. It was a tough game to referee. It was a
dirty game.
Post-game media access to the Canucks' dressing room was denied
for approximately 30 minutes. League rules require the dressing
room to be opened not later than 10 minutes following a game.
Fine money goes to the NHL Foundation, which funds charitable
causes and youth hockey initiatives. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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