Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson hits back at Ryan Reaves

There's been a war of the words between Toronto Maple Leafs tough guy Ryan Reaves and veteran Chicago Blackhawks forward Corey Perry in the wake of their matchup earlier this week, a 4-1 Chicago win that also happened to be the first loss of the year for Toronto. 

During the game, the two were seen jawing at one another from their respective benches, and it was Reaves who took it a step further afterward.

"I never really liked him to be honest. We always seem to run into each other when we play each other, but not a lot of love for that guy," Reaves said. "Just the way he runs his mouth. He kind of acts tough, but he's not tough."

However, Blackhawks head coach Brad Richardson has now inserted himself into the conflict, saying that Perry effectively "neutralized" Reaves before he deposited the winning goal. 

"The other night, one of the biggest things that Corey did was he neutralized Ryan Reaves," Richardson said.

"[Perry] was yapping at him from the bench and told him he lost his last two fights," Richardson said. "[Reaves] asked him, 'What are you going to do? You're scared of me.' Corey is like, 'I've never been scared a day in my life.'

For the young players to hear that, and then see him go out and wrestle with [Reaves] on the ice and score the game-winning goal, who's more effective in the game?" 

With phenom forward Connor Bedard in tow, Richardson appreciated the move from Perry to not engage Reaves, showing that there's a time and a place for that sort of thing on the ice. 

"I think you have to know when to get heated and get involved in the game with the other players on the other team, and then when to harness your emotions when you have a chance to do something special in the game," Richardson said.

Reaves and Perry will have another chance to get into it when the Leafs visit United Center in late November.

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