After Montreal’s Lars Eller was left unconscious and bleeding on the ice during game 1 of the Senators-Canadiens playoff series, Ottawa coach Paul MacLean offered his thoughts on Eric Gryba’s hit. Per The Globe And Mail:
(If I’m Eller), I’m really mad at player 61, whoever he is, because he passed me the puck in the middle of the rink when I wasn’t looking,” said MacLean. “That’s always been a dangerous place as far as I know. Ever since I’ve been playing this game, that’s a dangerous place to be — bad things happen.”
Player 61 is of course Montreal defenseman Raphael Diaz, who made the suicide pass that determined Eller’s fate.
Montreal Canadiens forward Brandon Prust didn’t take kindly to Coach MacLean’s comments:
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To be fair, we do see the Walrus resemblance:
Prust’s relationship with Coach MacLean goes back to last season when he was a New York Ranger playing in a physical, nasty playoff series against Ottawa. MacLean responded to Prust’s comments on Friday:
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This series just got lit on fire! It should be an exciting one to watch.
UPDATE: The NHL has ruled that Eric Gryba will be suspended two games for his illegal head check on Lars Eller. Here is Shanahan’s Explanation via NHL.com:
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