Ottawa general manager says P.K. Subban threatened Mark Stone before slash
Of course this P.K. Subban/Mark Stone slash thing got weirder after Thursday’s practice media availability following Montreal’s Game 1 win over the Senators.
Why?
Because it’s the playoffs. And both teams hate each other. And they’re both Canadian and on the East Coast, which means a ton of media is covering this series.
Ottawa general manager Bryan Murray said Montreal's Subban threatened Ottawa's Stone before the slash which may or may not have given Stone a ‘microfracture’ in his wrist (I'd still love to see the how and when of the team doctor examination) and sent Subban out of the game. He was also assessed a 5-minute major penalty.
From Murray’s news conference:
“There was a threat made before, by Subban to Stone, there were two attempts — on faceoffs — to slash him, one connected and then he two-handed him in the wrist in front of the net,” Murray said
“I don’t want to use the phrase that I was told,” Murray added, referring to the alleged Subban threat. “Because we have players wearing (microphones) now, because we have four officials on the ice, probably one of the officials heard it. It’s not, ‘I said something, somebody else said something.’ I’ve asked the officials to investigate.”
Also, isn't it somewhat fascinating that Murray complained about Subban threatening Stone after his coach, Dave Cameron, threatened the entire Montreal team if the NHL didn't take extra action on Subban? Note Ottawa tough guy/dirty shot artist/old time hockey dude who 'plays the game the right way' forward Chris Neil skated with the fourth line in Thursday's practice. Neil has been injured and not played since mid-February.
Per the Montreal Gazette’s Dave Stubbs, Subban said he didn't make a threat.
Subban denies threatening Stone or anyone else in hockey
— Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) April 16, 2015
We envision Subban's answer went something like this. Just remove the word "hit" with "slash" and "her" with "Stone" (NSFW, sort of).
This is all drama. It’s all theater. It’s the NHL playoffs. It’s another reason why we love this time of year.
As for the discipline, again, the Canadiens played most of Game 1 without their best defenseman and were assessed a 5-minute major. They were already without the awesome Max 67. That’s a bad punishment, especially in the playoffs – regardless of Stone’s injury. Plus, if Ottawa had won the game and scored three goals on the PP, would this be as big a deal? Stone's one of Ottawa's best forwards. It stinks for the Senators if he's indeed hurt because of that play.
But this is starting to come off as a little bit petty by Ottawa. It's hockey, it's a physical game, and Subban WAS punished. Ottawa's best retribution is to win Game 2, not whine about Game 1.
- - - - - - -
Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY
