You knew something was up when winger Alex Burrows walked into the Canucks dressing room Thursday with a scowl on his face and started firing his equipment at his locker-room stall.

View Large

This melee between the Detroit Red Wings and the Vancouver Canucks at GM Place on Saturday brought a censure for an angry Alex Burrows.

Photograph by : Lyle Stafford, Reuters, Files

ARTICLE TOOLS

• Printer friendly
• E-mail

Font:

• *
• *
• *
• *

Burrows, it turned out, had just received a phone call from NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell and was informed that both he and the Canucks were being fined for a pre-game incident with the Detroit Red Wings last Saturday at General Motors Place.

Detroit forward Aaron Downey and the Red Wings were also fined. Campbell said in an e-mail the league would not release the amount of the fines.

Burrows, who claimed not to know how much he was being dinged -- likely between $1,000 and $2,500 -- said he hopes Downey got a bigger fine than he did. Downey appeared to spark the incident when he speared Burrows during the pre-game skate. Players from both teams converged at centre ice and there was some pushing and shoving.

"The league looked at the incident and they thought I should be fined, so I will pay the fine and we'll move on," Burrows said after calming down. "I'm looking forward to seeing what he gets and what I get. If we both get the same, I'll disagree."

The NHL warned players and teams that it would take a hard line on any pre-game on-ice incidents after New York Rangers forward Sean Avery instigated a skirmish before a game in Toronto last November.

Canuck coach Alain Vigneault joked that the game has changed since his days in the Quebec Junior league.

" I remember when I was playing junior you'd have five brawls per year in warm-up and at least five or six when the puck was dropped," said Vigneault, who added he was not surprised by the fines. "The league had sent a memo out after the Avery incident in Toronto and warned every team and player if something happens, walk away. Burr has a tough time turning the other cheek and walking away."

MILLER TIME

Defenceman Aaron Miller pronounced himself fit after Thursday's practice and said he expects to play tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Miller has been out since suffering a hairline foot fracture on Feb. 1.

"I have got three good skates in and it's feeling better every day," Miller said. "We'll have to see what the coaches say now, but I think the foot is ready to go. I wasn't thinking about it at all today, which is a big change from four or five days ago, so it is really coming around."

Miller said his main challenge is conditioning. He has been wearing a boot on his foot since suffering the injury and hasn't been able to ride the exercise bike.

"That's why I'd love to get into a game because there's really no way to get in game shape, [except for] playing games. I'm itching to get back in there, so hopefully tomorrow night I'm in."

If Miller plays, Mike Weaver will likely be scratched, leaving the Canuck defence as healthy as it has been all season.

WRONG WAY

Centre Henrik Sedin took some ribbing from teammates over his play on Burrows' third-period goal Wednesday night. Replays made it appear Sedin was trying to pull the puck back out of the net after it had just crossed the goal-line.