All Habs News — March 15, 2011

As fans of the National Hockey League gathered for a peaceful rally outside of the Bell Center in Montreal this late afternoon, Bruce Boudreau, head coach of the Washington Capitals who the Canadiens are facing tonight, had a strong message for them.

“You don’t like it, don’t come to the games.”

“Listen, I don’t want to get into any controversy, but if that was Hal Gill that hit David Krejci, I don’t think there’d be a protest going on here tonight.”

“I think the players realize that they could get hurt,” said Boudreau. “They don’t want to do it, but unless you’ve played and see what goes on and at the speed of the game, you’re not going to be able to argue with it.”

So now we know what Boudreau’s stance is on the issue, right? Not really.

Let’s take you back exactly 15 months ago, to the day.  It was Tuesday, December 15 2009, and the Washington Capitals delivered a thundering 6-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

Although the Capitals had a strong win on many levels, Bruce Boudreau had other things on his mind following the game, more precisely, in regards to a controversial hit delivered by Avalanche forward David Koci on Washington Capitals defenseman Mike Green.

“Please, the guy’s got one goal in six years,” Boudreau said about Koci. “He couldn’t play in the American League. I’m glad he’s making a living, but if this is any game, he gets on the ice for the first three minutes, he gets into his fight with the guy and then he sits at the end of the bench, so what good is he?”

“It shows what we have to get rid of to have a good game,” Boudreau said.

“The guys that are sitting at the end of the bench and they come out and hit a guy for the sake of ‘I’ve got to run around like an idiot or I’ll never play again. Those are the guys we’ve got to get rid of.”

A conclusion? The quotes speak for themselves.

(Photo Getty)