It hasn’t been a banner season for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The lowly Leafs, who are coming off their seventh consecutive loss, have found a home near the bottom of the NHL standings this season. Things have been frustrating, to say the least, but Toronto reached a new low Friday at practice as Phil Kessel and David Booth got into an altercation.
The incident occurred during a special teams drill and resulted in the two players getting into an intense shoving match, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. While no punches were thrown, things did get intense, and teammates eventually had to separate the two of them.
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Booth brushed off the skirmish after practice, saying these things happen from time to time throughout the course of a season.
“Guys get frustrated all year. I think that was a drill that just promoted competition, so it was actually good to see that,” Booth told reporters after practice, per Sportsnet. “Hopefully we can take some of that competitive nature over to our game (Saturday against the Ottawa Senators). … If you play the game of hockey, that stuff is bound to happen. I don’t think it’s a big deal at all.”
Kessel declined to speak to the media following practice.
