Post by PensGM on Sept 26, 2003 10:28:36 GMT -5
Miami FL(AP)
Jacques Lemaire is usually unflappable. Calm, cool, collected. A tactician with the precision of a highly skilled surgeon. He disects games, plays, and breaks down every moment of a game and analyzes the ins and outs of every game. Well, last night in Florida, Lemaire showed a side that is normally not seen of the Penguins coach.
"That is not hockey, that is *******. You have kicking, you have boarding, you have charging. You see what kind of team they are. They are supposed to be champions. When one of your top players is hurt from a kick just 1:29 into the game, you can tell that it was premeditated. I don't care that we won this game, this game was a mess." said Lemaire.
"I have no idea what he was thinking." said Legwand about Kovalchuk. "We both went into the corner, and we went down together. He gets up and the first think he does as he skates by is kick my wrist. We have never had a problem with each other. I just have no idea why he (Kovalchuk) would do anything like this. I am very disappointed."
But the mockery of a hockey game didn't end there.
"Yes, there were two other tapes that were sent to league office. One of Mats Sundin charging Kirk Muller, and the other of Langkow boarding Greg Johnson." GM Bachul stated. "We had three players injured by dirty play by the Panthers in one game. I know some things happen in the heat of battle, but this isn't hockey, and it isn't the way we play."
But GM Bachul was called on his statement with the suggestion that his team played tough as well in the Florida contest.
"NOW LISTEN, that little Russian goof kicks and breaks Legwands wrist and we are supposed to lay down? We didn't start playing tough until Sundin put Muller out of the game. You can't just sit there and take it. You have to stand up for yourself. What the Panthers did was a joke. Ridiculous."
One thing is for certain, when Day 157 rolls around, prepare for a Ring-A-Ding-Dong-Dandy.