Nick Kypreos

Nick Kypreos is a Stanley Cup champion and Hockeycentral analyst

Alex Burrows was fined $2,500 for his comments.

Words exchanged on the ice are a part of the game as much as anything. From players, coaches, referees, even fans, everyone’s got something to say.

I never minded the gamesmanship when it came to a war of words among players. It was always about who could get under the skin of an opponent and give their team an edge.

I’ll never forget my first NHL game when a 10-year veteran with a clean-cut public image accused another player of having the ugliest wife in the league. My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe my ears. Even players’ wives weren’t off limits? When I asked the veteran about it after the games, he said simply, "Whatever it takes to win."

Throwing guys off their game is a philosophy that’s made the likes of Dale Hunter, Matthew Barnaby, Darcy Tucker, Sean Avery and countless others multimillionaires.

(What actually bothered me most during my career was listening to certain coaches or mouthy trainers pipe up from the safe confines of their team bench without ever having to fight a battle of their own. Can you imagine hearing from a guy who never played the game at that level of intensity questioning the bravery of guy who does? That always ticked me off.)

Referees and players never had a problem conversing on the ice. Any time: outside of dressing rooms, during TV timeouts, just after a period ends, it didn't really matter. Quick conversations happen all the time.

I always believed hockey players and game officials have had a greater rapport than any other sport. From unrelated topics like horse racing, football, even John Garrett’s favourite soap opera "The Young and the Restless", to heated game disagreements like "why did you screw me over in the second period with that tripping call?"

Regardless of what was said most nights, the thing that remained consistent was that once the game was over, everything said between an official and a player was happily accepted in the heat of battle. Even if your night ended with a double game misconduct and you screaming at the official on the way to the showers what you thought of his mother, it never carried over to the next game with the same venom it did for Alex Burrows.

To accuse an official of sabotaging a game all for the sake of a personal vendetta is as serious as it gets.

Why didn’t Burrows tell a coach or teammate right away? I know I would have. I also know I’d never go public with my accusation without consulting my coach or general manager first.

So what is the truth in all of this? Safe to say we’ll never know; only Burrows and referee Stephane Auger really know for sure.

What we do know is Burrows’ accusation comes with no one to corroborate his story. The onus isn’t on Auger to prove he didn’t say it; it’s on Burrows to prove that he did. And sadly for him, he can’t do that anymore than you or I could watching from our couch last Monday night.