Mario Lemieux broke his silence and accused Adam Graves of the New York Rangers of intentionally hurting him in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
"It was intentional, no question about it," the Pittsburgh center said as he prepared for the third game of the Stanley Cup finals on Saturday night against the Chicago Blackhawks."I've never been hit that hard in my life."Lemieux's left hand was broken when Graves slashed him early in the second game of the Patrick Division finals. Graves, who was assessed a minor penalty, played the third game, then was suspended for the rest of the series while Lemieux sat on the sidelines with the injury.
The Pittsburgh superstar was expected to be out for a month, but came back to play in Game 2 of the Wales Conference finals against Boston in what seemed like a miraculous recovery to some.
Lemieux said there was "no question" in his mind that the slash, which came at the start of a Pittsburgh power play, was premeditated. Graves hit Lemieux with a two-hander across the gloves, dropping him to the ice.
"I kill penalties, too," Lemieux said. "I hit the gloves also once in a while. But to take a swing like he did . . . that certainly came from the coach. A contract was out on me in that game.
"I'm not saying Roger Neilson told Graves to go after me," Lemieux said, "but he told his players to go after me."