Bad blood continues to grow between the Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks. Latest proof of that came after the Canucks’ 5-1 win over the Hawks on Saturday in Vancouver when Canucks’ forward Ryan Kesler called Hawks’ winger Andrew Ladd “a coward.”
Kesler’s comments, originally made on a Vancouver radio station, were reported by TSN on Sunday.
According to Kesler, Ladd hit him from behind in last year’s playoff series, won by the Hawks in six games. Kesler also said Ladd cross-checked him in the face when he wasn’t looking. The two got into a fight in the first period of Saturday night’s game, with Ladd getting the best of it.
Earlier this season Vancouver defenseman Willie Mitchell deliver a hard, but clean, hit on Hawks’ captain Jonathan Toews and Toews sat out six games while recovering from a concussion.
Mitchell was on the injured list and didn’t play on Saturday, the Hawks’ last regular season visit to Vancouver. The teams meet one more time, on March 5 at the United Center.