BOSTON -- A playoff hockey classic was shoved to the backburner Friday as Canadiens and Bruins players and coaches found themselves addressing the ugly issue of racism. [url=https://www.shoesirelandsale.com/]Discount Shoes Ireland[/url] . Montreal defenceman P.K. Subban, who is black, was targeted for

BOSTON -- A playoff hockey classic was shoved to the backburner Friday as Canadiens and Bruins players and coaches found themselves addressing the ugly issue of racism. Discount Shoes Ireland . Montreal defenceman P.K. Subban, who is black, was targeted for racial abuse on social media in the wake of his winning goal in Thursdays thrilling 4-3 double-overtime playoff win over Boston. "Im shocked," Montreal coach Michel Therrien told reporters Friday. "Honestly Im shocked to hear those type of comments." "No one deserves to be treated like this," he added. "And P.K. has all our support." Many comments with racist and derogatory terms were posted on Twitter and other social media websites after the victory. The 24-year-old Subban, a slick-skating defenceman who is one of the NHLs most exciting players, scored twice as Montreal won the opener of the best-of-seven second-round series. Subban was not made available by the Canadiens, who had a closed gym session instead of a practice Friday thanks to the tight turnaround between Thursdays extended Game 1 and the afternoon start for Game 2 Saturday. Montreal brought out four players, all of whom decried the abuse of their teammate. "I just think its unacceptable," said defenceman Mike Weaver. "Its just classless." Forward David Desharnais echoed his coach. "Nobody deserves to be treated like that. It has nothing to do with sports or anything," he said. Weaver, like the other Habs players who met the media, blamed the ugliness on "a few individuals." Boston was quick to denounce those responsible. "The racist, classless views expressed by an ignorant group of individuals following Thursdays game via digital media are in no way a reflection of anyone associated with the Bruins organization," team president Cam Neely said in a statement. Boston coach Claude Julien also spoke out against those behind the abuse. "Its just poor judgment, poor taste, and we dont associate ourselves with people like that, and people who think that way are not what we call our fans," he told reporters at the Bruins practice facility. "They may think they are, but we certainly dont support that at all. "Its a shame that this is still going around in this day and age, and that people are still thinking that way." In a week that saw a Spanish soccer fan throw a banana at Barcelona defender Dani Alves, the torrent of abuse aimed at Subban was a painful reminder that hate knows no boundaries. "Youd like to think that it wouldnt happen but it does," said Montreal forward Brendan Gallagher. "Its still part of the life and part of the world ... I think it is getting better. I think its a very small group of people. It doesnt represent the National Hockey League in any way. We have great fans." Said Julien: "Theres a lot of good fans out there, and thats the sad part about it is that, you know, your good fans get tarnished because of comments like that from people who dont belong in that same group." The abuse was an embarrassment on several levels for the Bruins, who drafted Subbans younger brother Malcolm. Asked if the Boston organization plans to reach out to the younger Subban, a goalie, Julien replied: "I think were reaching out to everybody in that situation. You know, weve got Jarome Iginla on our team. Lets be realistic here about this. Its something we dont support." Gallagher said P.K. Subban was professional in handling the abuse. "He understands the best way to handle it is just ignore it," he said. "And understand that their opinions dont really mean anything." "He shakes it off pretty good," added Desharnais. Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre called the remarks "unfortunate", saying he would not defend the undefendable. "We will answer back with the goals that we score," Coderre told reporters Friday at Montreal city hall. The mayor also had a few words for Boston fans, saying there are some who will try to destabilize the Habs. "They will try with all kinds of insults, (both) acceptable and unacceptable, but we wont fall into their trap," Coderre said. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said in a statement that the offensive tweets were "a disgrace." "These racist comments are not reflective of Boston, and are not reflective of Bruins fans. Ive said before that the best hockey in the world happens when the Bruins and Canadiens play each other, and there is no room for this kind of ignorance here." The racial abuse wasnt the only fan misbehaviour on the night. Some in the building reacted to the overtime loss by throwing drinks and garbage at the Canadiens as they left the ice. "Its Boston, its the rivalry. They dont like (it) when were winning, I guess," said Desharnais. "Thats just Boston." "We come here, we dont expect to be cuddled," he added. Therrien, who is one of the first off the bench, said he had not noticed the cascade of garbage. As to how the rest of the Habs reacted, Desharnais said: "We just got off the ice pretty quick." Subban, meanwhile, restricted his Twittter activity Friday to a tweet directing followers to check out a link to one of his sponsors. But he addressed the issue of racism in a 2012 interview on "George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight." "Ive been playing hockey since I was two-and-a-half, three years old. And theres been a number of those incidents. And theyre just stupid people really, to be honest with you," he said. "Hockeys filled with great people, and its a great sport, and I encourage a lot of people to play it because of the relationships that you make in hockey. Those are the things that Id rather talk about than all those other things, because theyre just ignorant people." When Stroumboulopoulos cited fans throwing bananas at black soccer players, Subban said "Id probably just pick it up and eat it." Which is exactly what Alves did this week, to worldwide acclaim. Buy Shoes Ireland . No, the San Antonio star didnt announce retirement plans during an off day at the NBA Finals on Wednesday. Shoes Ireland From China . -- Ricky Romeros comeback bid hit another road bump Tuesday in an ugly 18-4 Jays loss to a Detroit Tigers split squad. https://www.shoesirelandsale.com/ . Weise left the arena with a splint on his wrist and underwent tests to determine whether the tendon is torn. Winger Travis Moen will also miss some time after suffering a concussion in Mondays contest.Rene Bourque scored a hat trick to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 7-4 win over the New York Rangers in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Final, staving off elimination for the Habs and sending the series back to New York for Game Six. Bourque has been a revelation for the Canadiens in the playoffs, scoring eight goals in 16 games after a regular season in which he scored nine goals in 63 games. Bourques career-high in shots-on-goal-per-game during the regular season is 2.95, in 2009-2010; in this years playoffs, hes up to 3.19 per game, so Bourques production, while unusual, isnt being generated by outrageously fluky percentages. The Rangers pulled star G Henrik Lundqvist, after he played 28:58 and allowed four goals on 19 shots, his worst outing of the playoffs (though he allowed four goals on 23 shots in 39:57 during Game Six against Philadelphia). Canadiens C Lars Eller contributed a couple of assists, giving him 13 points in the playoffs, enough to lead all Montreal forwards. If Bourques goal-scoring comes as a surprise based on his regular-season production, so is the case with Eller, who had 26 points in 77 games during the regular season, including six points in his last 35 games. So, yes, Rene Bourque and Lars Eller are the forwards generating the numbers for a team in the Eastern Conference Final. Second-year LW Alex Galchenyuk had a goal and an assist in his fourth playoff game, returning from a knee injury suffered late in the regular season. Veteran Habs D Andrei Markov was beaten a few times, and had the worst possession stats of Montreal defencemen, but also finished the game with three assists, giving him 10 points in 16 playoff games. Canadiens RW Dale Weise chipped in a couple of assists before getting knocked woozy by a John Moore hit in the third period. Weise has put up seven points in 16 playoff games -- not spectacular, particularly considering hes rolling at 31% possession over the past four games, but still useful for a fourth line banger. After having his jaw brokenn by Brandon Prusts hit in Game Three, Rangers C Derek Stepan returned to the lineup, with facial protection, and scored two goals. Shoes Ireland Free Shipping. Stepan now has 13 points in the playoffs, tying Martin St. Louis for the Rangers team lead. Rangers LW Chris Kreider was the big scorer on the night, with a goal and three assists. Kreider now has 10 points in nine playoff games and he led the Rangers with eight shot attempts in the game. Bourque led the Canadiens with eight attempted shots. Former Habs prospect, now Rangers No. 1 D Ryan McDonagh added two more assists. McDonagh has nine points in five games in his series. He had three points in 14 games through the first two rounds. Rangers RW Rick Nash also had a goal and an assist, giving him five points in five games against Montreal. He had five points in 14 games prior to this series. The Canadiens managed to win a game that they nearly gave away, surrending a 4-1 second-period lead by allowing three goals in 4:24, before Bourque scored his second and third of the night to create some breathing room. The good news for the Habs is that G Dustin Tokarski earned a win stopping 23 of 27 shots, a generally mediocre performance. The reason it ought to be good news is that if the Habs are going to come back from a three-games-to-one deficit, they probably need Tokarski to steal at least one game for them. The clubs have been relatively even in possession terms -- the Rangers hold a 293-to-288 edge in overall shot attempts for the series -- so the point of differentiation could easily be goaltending. The task for the Canadiens is still daunting, as Game Six goes in Manhattan and, despite Game Fives results, the goaltending edge remains with the Rangers. But, if the Habs find a way to get it done in Game Six, returning home for Game Seven would be a most interesting proposition. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '