Just when you thought the Crosby-Foligno elbow fiasco was ready to die, in swoops Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray with a shot of adrenaline.
Murray was seething after Sidney Crosby elbowed Ottawa’s Nick Foligno in the head Friday night. But when Crosby and Pens head coach Dan Bylsma accused Foligno of running goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, Murray went on the offensive.
Here’s what he told Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun:
“The rules are very clear now. If you fall into a goaltender and touch a goaltender, an elbow to the head and a butt end to the head is fair game. Dan Bylsma said that’s OK for them. Sidney said Nick Foligno is that kind of player.
“I wish (Foligno) was that kind of player. I thought the referees in that game, watching it and hearing the comments, it was 2-on-2. He fell over the goaltender. He was cross-checked four times. There was no question, did he get pushed? I don’t know. He got cross-checked, I thought he got a butt end, but it might have been a full elbow. (Chris) Kunitz comes in with a cross-check and the penalties were even.
“So, (NHL disciplinarian Brendan) Shanahan said that’s a good play. That’s a hockey play. Dan Bylsma said it’s good for them and Pittsburgh were the biggest ones on the head injuries. I’m remiss. I made a mistake. We didn’t have (Chris) Neil and (Matt) Carkner play in the game. We didn’t have enough toughness, so when we play Pittsburgh that’s something you can bring up to me again.”
Okay then!
Murray’s apparent boiling point was when Crosby accused Foligno of “making a big deal out of nothing” on the play.
“He’s [Foligno’s] probably lucky it was me that was handling it and not someone else,” No. 87 added. “I think if he’s going to do that, he should be ready to expect a response.”
Bylsma lobbed equally harsh criticism Foligno’s way.
“We’re talking about a player that bumped into our goalie three times,” Bylsma said. “With the score 5-1 and intentionally going into our goalie, he can expect more than Sidney Crosby coming at him and talking to him during the game. That’s how we feel about those situations. He was in our net falling over our goalie, and I don’t think there was any question about the intent.”
The Pens and Sens meet again on Dec. 16 at Scotiabank Place. Might wanna mark that one down on the ol’ calendar.