Jeff Vinnick
After three straight years facing one another in the playoffs, it's no surprise the bad blood is ramping up between the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks on the ice.
Some of that now appears, however, to be spilling over to the media covering the series.
After Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa beat up Blackhawks winger Viktor Stalberg towards the end of Vancouver's 7-2 loss in Game 4 on Tuesday, Daily Herald columnist Barry Rozner wrote that the Canucks are "gutless" and coach Alain Vigneault "encourages this spineless behavior."
"The Vancouver Canucks have long been known as a team that will crack under the strain, succumb to the pressure and ultimately choke away a chance to win the Stanley Cup," Rozner writes. "But now they've shown the entire NHL they're gutless, too."
The column has received considerable attention in Vancouver today as the teams prepare for Game 5 tonight, with outraged fans calling into local radio shows and filling the comment section on Rozner's article.
Only in the playoffs.