On Alexandre Burrows and Stephane Auger

You nailed it, coach.

When Burrows was interviewed post-game, he did not, to my mind look like a guy who was making stuff up. He was genuinely upset, which is exactly how I would feel had the same alleged offense happened to me.

Also, what on earth does being an agitator or a diver have to do with Burrows’ propensity for not telling the truth?

I’m an Oilers fan, and I’ve been frustrated at more than my share of Oil v. Canucks games, but I can put my homerism aside here. After the the Tim Donaghy scandal and subsequent revelations from the NBA referee culture, should we really expect that NHL referees don’t similarly have biases, even vendettas against certain players?

Let’s face it, refereeing in the NHL is terrible, so I find it weird that so many people are piling on Burrows. His story is very believable, especially given the circumstantial evidence (the pregame video) that popped up after the media got ahold of this.

Bruce, Jonathan I really respect your writing, you guys always put interesting things out there for us to read, and I have to say as a Canucks fan I appreciate your opinions here.

As to the original post: Other than the factual errors, which are problematic, there are several key problems with the way this is being argued.

It seems that commentators think that on-ice play style somehow is representative of a player’s character and personality. This is simply false. There is no way to directly equate play style with personal integrity and character. If that’s the case Stevens and Pronger would be sociopathic killers off the ice.

The other key problem with Derek’s post, unless it was simply intended as well disguised baiting, is that the key issue has nothing to do with what Burrows does or did, and everything to do how refs call the game. The moment refs are not calling the game fairly the credibility of the league and game are called into question and fans may very well start walking away. There is no ‘understanding’ this, either the game is as fair as the league can make it, or it’s WWE on ice. You don’t get to choose, refs, rules and integrity are what ensure it’s a sporting contest and not scripted entertainment.

I love Alex Burrows because of his story; because he’s helped send the -anks into some previously unfathomable atmospheric stratum of production; and because he’s generally an effective and obnoxious little c-unit.

All that said:
When he first made those astounding allegations, my first though—which, I think, was shared by many other people—was along the lines of “Knowing the potential consequences of lying about such a serious, specific thing on TV…who would make something like that up?”
And then I thought about it for another second or three, and came up with a pretty acceptable answer: Alex Burrows, for one, and especially an Alex Burrows immediately following a really bitter loss.

Now, I personally doubt that Burr made the whole thing up on the spot in an elaborate, malicious scheme to make Auger look crooked; I just don’t think Burrows is that bright. More likely it was said out of some combination of misunderstanding and emotion (ie “He said something to me pregame about the last Nashville game!” + “He made a questionable call or two against me that influenced the outcome of the game!” = “He told me before the game that he was gonna fuck me over—and then he did!”) .

Similarly, the reason the average Canuck fan (again: not that bright), and the Vancouver media that panders to him, were so outraged was mostly, I think, because we got zero points out of a home game against a conference opponent in a game in which it sort of seemed to many like we deserved better (run-on sentences ftw). It wasn’t at all dissimilar to tonight’s game from an Oil perspective**; I’m sure we’d hear plenty about it if Grebeshkov came forward post-game with a semi-plausible story about Furlatt or Rehman (aside: who?) having it out for him.

Basically, a week has passed and it seems like the story has mercifully blown over. The NHL is apparently fine with the current status, and Burr himself has continued right on playing like the less-effective Sean Avery he is ;-). All we need now is for the Oil to beat the Preds on a ticky-tack call, and all will be right with the universe.

**Only, you know, with a playoff spot on the line… (/poking the bear)

If you do not want to side with the media, then why go on bashing Burrows… and your idiotic statement against him "He’s essentially a less-publicized and less-effective version of Sean Avery. " shows your true lack of understanding no matter how much you write, you really can’t sugar coat ignorance, and it just is what it is…. have you never made a mistake or called someone out on their incredibly stupid comments or actions…. Alex called the ref out, maybe not the best platform, but I was at the Calgary Pens game a few days later with the same ref – Auger – and he made even worse calls, and did everything to prove Alex was right….. wake up and smell the real story of, maybe there is something to Alex’s story, and not just how he handled it…. the bigger story is of the Ref….