On Saturday night in Binghamton, goalie Robin Lehner of the Ottawa Senators' AHL affiliate was standing in his crease watching a line brawl develop down the ice with the Syracuse Crunch
He skated down, wanting to battle with goalie Jeff Deslauriers; instead, he met referee Darcy Burchell and his linesmen, who physically manhandled him before Lehner was ejected from the game.
From Joy Lindsay of the Press and Sun Bulletin:
"I'm sure he was frustrated," B-Sens Coach Kurt Kleinendorst said. "Every once in a while you do something that you kind of think might be the right thing at the time, and it turns out to be the wrong thing. None of us question Robin's intensity. He's an emotional player, he's a young player, and he's making a lot of progress. But I'm sure it was just frustration."
"Robin will wake up in the morning and take a look back and probably wish he hadn't left his crease. Goalies, once they cross the red line, it's no turning back. And once you grab a referee, it's even a little bit worse. We'll just wait and see what the league has to say."
Lehner, who was not available to the media after the game, violated multiple portions of American Hockey League Rule 27. When Ray Emery violated a similar rule in 2003, he was assessed a 10-game suspension, but the B-Sens appealed and had it reduced to six games.
This is actually a perfect marriage of two of Lehner's favorite things: Fighting, as he went after Kevin Poulin of the New York Islanders earlier this season, and disdain for the officials, as he infamously trashed 2011 World Junior Championship officials for having "no standards" for the "whole friggin' tournament."
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