TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Calgary Flames coach Darryl Sutter deflected attention away from Ville Nieminen's suspension by complaining Wednesday that some NHL factions badly want the Tampa Bay Lightning to win the Stanley Cup.
Sutter said suspending one of his top players for Game 5 only reinforces his small market, Canadian-based team's status as underdogs in a finals that were expected to be fast and furious but instead have been physical, injury-filled and low-scoring.
The two teams have alternated victories heading into Thursday's pivotal game, which will leave the winner one victory short of the Cup. Tampa Bay avoided a 3-1 deficit in the series by winning 1-0 Monday night in Calgary.
Late in that game, Nieminen a feisty, aggressive agitator suspended once earlier in the playoffs for a hit on Detroit goalie Curtis Joseph rammed Lightning star Vincent Lecavalier face-first into the glass. Lecavalier's helmet popped off and he needed stitches on the right side of his head, but he said Wednesday he feels fine and will play in Game 5.
NHL director of hockey operations Colin Campbell hinted Nieminen's repeat-offender status figured into a one-game suspension that infuriated Sutter.
''So fine, we know what we're up against,'' Sutter said. ''We're the underdog. We've said that. I am not saying it now to make a point, but it's dead on true. We're the little team that wasn't supposed to be here and a lot of people don't want us to be here and to make sure that we're not successful. We know that.''
Asked to whom he was referring, Sutter said, ''None of your business.''
But it was obvious whom he meant. At one point during his 20-minute news conference, Sutter's cell phone rang. He let it ring, then said, ''Probably New York again,'' a reference to the NHL's main offices.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman released a statement late Wednesday about Sutter's remarks.
''Mr. Sutter's comments were ill-advised, inappropriate and inaccurate,'' he said. ''The focus of the Stanley Cup Final should be on the ice, and to the extent any response is needed to any gamesmanship off the ice, it will be made after the Final is over.''
Sutter also hinted media pressure on the league to suspend Nieminen figured into the decision. As a result, he is questioning his own policy of not letting players complain about injuries, even if they occur on plays that aren't penalized. Nieminen was given a 5-minute major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct for ramming into Lecavalier.
''Hey, the media is a powerful tool, believe me,'' he said.
Sutter's attention-shifting tactics are similar to those used by Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock and Lightning coach John Tortorella during the Eastern Conference finals. At one point, Tortorella said Hitchcock should ''shut his yap.''
This time, Tortorella had little to say, declining repeatedly to discuss the play or the suspension. Lecavalier said only that he planned to play Thursday.
''Oh yeah, of course,'' he said, as if it never was an issue.
Both teams are undefeated in Game 5s Calgary is 3-0, all on the road, and Tampa Bay is 2-0 and Lecavalier and teammate Brad Richards said that the game was their focus, not the recurring injuries.
Lecavalier's injury was the third to a key Lightning player in two games. Defenseman Pavel Kubina (lower body injury, possible concussion) and right wing Ruslan Fedotenko (facial cut, possible concussion) sat out Game 4, but both practiced Wednesday.
''They (the Flames) are very good on the road,'' said Richards, who scored his record seventh game-winning goal in Game 4. ''Just because we have home ice two out of three doesn't mean anything. We've got to treat it like a Game 7 because they have shown they can come in and win Game 5s on the road.''
Sutter was the only Flames coach or player who talked Wednesday with reporters. After learning that no Lightning players talked after traveling Tuesday, Sutter made his players off-limits.
Nieminen's one-game suspension comes amid debate whether the Flames' shifting emphasis from being an uptempo, thrive-off-mistakes team to one intent on wearing down the Lightning with physical play is hurting them more than it is helping.
The Lightning's decisive goal Monday came during a 5-on-3 advantage in the opening minutes, and any Flames comeback hopes in the final four minutes were ended by the Nieminen penalty.
''We're trying to beat the trend,'' Sutter said. ''We're not supposed to be playing great defensive hockey, so we're just trying to stick with that.''
There is no doubt both teams want to score the first goal, as the winning team has done so in every game. After that, the goalies Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff in Games 1 and 3 and Tampa Bay's Nikolai Khabibulin in Games 2 and 4 have made the leads stand up.
