NHL First Star Alex Burrows Targeted by Ref Auger, Seeks Ouster
Vancouver Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows was named First Star of the NHL last week, posting hat tricks in back-to-back games. He has nine goals total in the month of January to go along with 18 PIM. 16 of those PIM came Monday against Nashville in a game Borrows calls out referee Stephane Auger for targeting him for retribution from a previous incident.
Burrows delivered sharp criticism against Auger after the game, indicating Auger set out from the beginning of the game to harass Burrows. "It was personal," said Burrows. "The ref came over to me and said I made him look bad in Nashville on the Smithson hit. He said he was going to get me back tonight and he did his job in the third."
Over the course of the match, Burrows was assessed two minutes for diving in the second period and two minutes for interference in the third. He also received a 10-minute misconduct penalty with only seconds remaining in the game.
Burrows added, "And because of a guy's ego, it just blows everything out of proportion."
If the claims can be substantiated beyond circumstantial evidence, Auger should immediately be pulled off the ice for the remainder of the season. In a high-intensity game where games can be decided up to the final seconds, teams cannot afford their players to be singled out by a referee with a vendetta. Auger was allegedly upset with Burrows for feigning a hit in a previous game that Auger claims "made him look bad."
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