Sidney Crosby Accused of 'Dirty' Slew Foot Play on Rangers' Callahan

Filed under: Penguins, Rangers, NHL Discipline

NEW YORK -- During the first period of Monday night's game between Pittsburgh and New York, Sidney Crosby knocked down Rangers forward Ryan Callahan with a check the Rangers have called "dirty."

With a little over five minutes remaining in the first period of the Penguins' 3-1 win, Crosby and Callahan jostled while skating toward the Penguins zone. As they skated entangled over the blue line, Crosby appeared to place his skate behind Callahan's as he knocked his opponent to the ice.

"That's a dirty play," Rangers center Brandon Dubinsky said of Crosby in a broadcast interview during the first intermission. "He's a guy who tries to get away with a lot of that stuff. He complains a lot." After the game, Dubinsky was still seething, but tried to bite his tongue. "I don't want to sit here and talk about (Crosby) any more. It's awful."

Asked after the game if Crosby's take-down was dangerous, Callahan said, "Absolutely. Anytime you take someone's feet out from underneath them, it's a dangerous play There's not much you can do."

Crosby, who was not given a penalty, defended himself to reporters after the game. "How many penalty minutes do I have this year"? asked the Pittsburgh captain, who has 15. "Show me all those dirty plays. It's a battle and he falls. He's holding me going up ice and I'm trying to push him off. Is it that calculated? I'm going to the net. If I tripped him, I tripped him."

Callahan was given a two-minute minor for interference.

"It's a play that the NHL has tried to get rid of," said Rangers Hall of Fame defenseman Brian Leetch, who now serves as a studio analyst on the team's broadcasts on MSG Network. "It's a dirty play."

The broadcasters on the Pittsburgh feed of the game did not make any mention of Crosby's play.

 

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Source: http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2010/11/29/sidney-crosby-accused-of-dirty-slew-foot-play-on-rangers-call/

Steve Stricker Steven Gerrard Thierry Henry Thomaz Bellucci Tim Clark