Following Saturday night’s 4-2 loss to Toronto, Buffalo enforcer John Scott took aim at Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf by calling him “Princess Phaneuf” in response to this third-period scrum:
“All of a sudden I’m not allowed to hit him anymore. He’s Princess Phaneuf. It’s a joke,” Scott after the game.“My leg’s fine, everything’s good. It’s just something where I guess you’re not allowed to hit the star guys anymore.”
On Monday, the Leafs took issue with Scott’s remarks.Kadri on Scott: “I don’t think he’s respected a whole lot throughout the whole league.”
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) November 18, 2013
Frazer McLaren on Scott: “It’s disrespectful. Everyone knows the way Phaneuf plays. He’s a hard-nosed player. He doesn’t back down.”
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) November 18, 2013
As for the actual combatants, both seemed keen to put the incident behind them.
“That was a slip of the tongue,” Scott told the Buffalo News. “I was just obviously a little emotional at the time -- kinda regret saying it.”
“It’s a non-issue. I just once again was kinda shooting my mouth off. A little too fired up after the game and said something, didn’t realize it would get the kind of traction it’s gotten.”
Phaneuf also tried to brush it off.
“To be honest with you, that game’s in the past now,” he said. “I don’t take it personally.”