Things aren't going well for the Buffalo Sabres and on Wednesday tempers flared as Evander Kane and Justin Falk got into an altercation towards the end of practice.
“Shut the *expletive* up, you selfish *expletive*,” Falk screamed at Kane.
It started as the two battled in front of the net as it appeared Falk's stick came up on Kane.The exchange was broken up by coaches a few seconds later. From where most media were watching, it was hard to make out what Kane said during the incident.
Justin Falk just yelled at Evander Kane, called him selfish and shoved him. Wow. #Sabres
— Bill Hoppe (@BillHoppeNHL) January 10, 2018
"I really don't think it's that big of a deal as you guys are maybe making it out to be," Kane told reporters after practice. "It happens more often than maybe you guys see, like I said, it was just a battle on one play and it was pretty quickly over after that as you guys saw."
Falk echoed Kane's comments a few minutes later and said that these types of incidents are normal, especially when a team is struggling.
"This is not the first time that this has happened by any means with any team I've been on," Falk said about 30 minutes after the incident. "To be quite honest, I think it's healthy. You're pushing each other, you're honest with each other, you're upfront with each other, you know, there is no BS behind anything, that's how you have to have it."
Housley agreed and said it was good to see some emotion out of his players.
"It's just the heat of the moment," Kane said. "It's guys just trying to push each other and make each other better and I think that's part of the game and you see it from time to time."
Evander Kane and Justin Falk react to their heated exchange during today's #Sabres practice @WKBW pic.twitter.com/IjomRVj9xw
— Matthew Bové (@Matt_Bove) January 10, 2018
"It was just a stir of the moment, emotions are running high this time of year with where we're at," Falk added. "Everyone has a different situation they are in. It was the heat of the moment, it boiled over. To be honest, maybe more stuff like that is what we need, to get things going here. I think if guys play with a bit more passion and urgency to help right the ship here."
Kane has been all over 41telling him to watch his stick.41 went right towards him telling him to shut up.aft 1 push, coaches pulled 41 away.
— Paul Hamilton (@pham1717) January 10, 2018
