"Oh yeah, he did": When Patrice Bergeron contradicted Alex Burrows' statement over 2011 Stanley Cup Finals' 'Bitegate'

The 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins served as one of the fiercest battles in recent history. A major incident from the series involved Canucks' Alex Burrows and Bruins' Patrice Bergeron getting together during a scrum that led to allegations of the former biting his opponent's hand.

During the end of the first period of Game 1 of the series in Vancouver, players from both sides had a scuffle. Bergeron, usually a calm and composed figure in the Bruins setup, charged Burrows with his hand, trying to shove him in the face. While a referee got in the middle to separate the two, it appeared that Burrows deliberately tried to bite the Bruins forward's fingers to break free.

Later, Bergeron would reveal this to the then Hockey Night in Canada analyst Elliotte Friedman and also state the reason for his aggression towards Burrows.

"I don't mind rough play and scrums at the end, as long as it's just pushing and shoving and all that. But biting? I mean come on.

"Oh yeah, he did," Bergeron said. "He cut me a little bit on my finger, but I'm not going to complain about it. I'll let the league do their job, but he sure did."

When asked about the incident, Burrows completely denied the act of biting, not taking any accountability for the same.

"I don't think so," Burrows said. "He had his finger in my mouth but I don't think I bit him. You saw it, he put his hand up and he put his hand in my face and his finger got in my mouth, so that's what happened."

Despite appeals from the Bruins, there was no disciplinary action taken towards Burrows by the on-field referees or the NHL Disciplinary Committee later.

Claude Julien's 'classless' comment towards Burrows

Bruins head coach, Claude Julien absolutely blasted Alex Burrows in the post-game interviews in support of his player. He called the winger's act a 'classless' one from what he had heard from Bergeron about the incident.

"I haven't seen it, to be honest with you," Julien said. "I haven't had time to look at that stuff right now. I'm going by what Patrice told me. Obviously there was something that happened. I guess I'll save my comments for after I see it. But if that's the case, it's a classless move, not something players should be doing at this level anyway."

The Bruins would eventually win a hotly contested Cup Finals in game 7. Canucks' final game loss would also spark ugly riots in the city of Vancouver. It would take another ten years for a Canadian team to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals.