NHL Ref (Stephane Auger) "retires"

[wafflecombine]

Well... surprise, surprise.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/h ... le4268270/

Makes for an interesting read.

Enjoy

[porp]

The article really seemed like someone was trying to stir the pot, make something of nothing, but those quotes by Gregson leaves me with a, "Yup. Auger was let go."

Buh-bye.

Also, "between 1 to 2 years" is between 13 and 23 months for 13 years of work. Anyone know how many actual weeks of severence NHL referees get per year of work?

[old calamari]

The comments on the artical are hillarious haha..fuckin skidmark.

[tantalum]

I believe a reputable source tweeted a few days ago that it was indeed a forced retirement. The Gregson comments confirm this. Doesn't surprise me. I knew it was coming at some point once the Burrows/Auger thing was far enough down the road. They couldn't do it right away as it would have been admitting they had an officiating problem/game fixing issue.

Whatever you think about Burrows as a person or player in this issue he was not lying. If he was he should be collecting $10 mil a movie in Hollywood. Furthermore, had the NHL not believed him he would have received far more than the slap on the wrist for calling out an official that he did receive. (note as a person he has shown himself to be nothing other than a stand up guy as far as I know).

[Benjo]

I believe a reputable source tweeted a few days ago that it was indeed a forced retirement.

I have heard that Auger has an opportunity to appeal his "retirement"

[Meds]

I believe a reputable source tweeted a few days ago that it was indeed a forced retirement. The Gregson comments confirm this. Doesn't surprise me. I knew it was coming at some point once the Burrows/Auger thing was far enough down the road. They couldn't do it right away as it would have been admitting they had an officiating problem/game fixing issue.

Whatever you think about Burrows as a person or player in this issue he was not lying. If he was he should be collecting $10 mil a movie in Hollywood. Furthermore, had the NHL not believed him he would have received far more than the slap on the wrist for calling out an official that he did receive. (note as a person he has shown himself to be nothing other than a stand up guy as far as I know).

Not sure what more they could have done. $2500 is the maximum allowable fine for a player under the CBA.

I don't think they can suspend him for calling a ref biased.

[tantalum]

You know as well as I do if Bettman wants to unleash stiffer non-financial punishment he can do so. I don't believe there is anything that says he Burrows couldn't have been suspended. It would be unprecedented but they did give Rome an unprecedented Stanley Cup final suspension for a hit that was made a hundred times during the season without punishment.

[dbr]

They suspended Avery for his sloppy seconds line, I'm sure they could've found a reason on paper for suspending Alex Burrows for "undermining the integrity of the game"..

The trouble is Burrows had the support of his teammates and the Canucks organization and the league would have risked blowing the scandal open if there was an appeal, further evidence coming to light, etc.

Obviously they just wanted it to go away and a slap on the wrist to Burrows (and taking Auger's number) was the best way to do that.

[tantalum]

Exactly. Avoid the scandal at all costs and when it's sufficiently in the rear view mirror address the real situation.

[Fred]

A life time suspension seems appropriate