Report: Burmistrov Won't Face NHL Discipline For Elbowing Bergeron
BOSTON (CBS) -- It took less than one period for the Bruins to be involved in a controversial hit this season, and it was center Patrice Bergeron on the receiving end.
The Bruins' center was elbowed in the head by Winnipeg forward Alex Burmistrov in the first period of Thursday night's game.
Burmistrov was issued a two-minute minor for an illegal check to the head, and the hit looked like it might warrant some supplemental discipline from the NHL's department of player safety.
Yet according to CSNNE's Joe Haggerty, Burmistrov won't face any further discipline.
That report was echoed on Friday morning by Renaud Lavoie.
That's a decision that isn't likely to sit well with Bruins head coach Claude Julien.
"It'll be interesting how that is being reviewed, especially to an elite player in the league who's had some issues in the past," Julien said. "I hope they look at it seriously. In my mind, I don't see why there wouldn't be further consequences to that."
Bergeron also discussed the hit.
"It was definitely a hit to the head," Bergeron said. "Even though [Burmistrov] apologized after, it's one of those, I got rid of it, I didn't have the puck at that time and you got to realize where the guy is and his position."
Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice didn't see any intent on the hit.
"So much of that is Burmistrov's body movement is as it would be if two guys were coming together," Maurice said. "It happens a thousand times a game. Two guys come together. When one of them doesn't, that's what it looks like. But he wasn't driving up and through. And I'm a big Bergeron fan so I'm hoping everything ... I mean he didn't leave the game which is a real positive, so I'm glad it was nothing serious."
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Bergeron, of course, has a history with concussions. He suffered a serious head injury in 2007, one that ended his season in late October. A little over a year later, he suffered another concussion, one that kept him off the ice for more than a month. In Game 4 against the Flyers in the 2011 postseason, Bergeron suffered another concussion, and that one caused him to miss the first two games of the conference finals.
Bergeron was able to stay in the game after the Burmistrov hit, picking up a roughing penalty for getting in Burmistrov's face in the aftermath. The Bruins lost, 6-2.
