Tim Stutzle fires back after being called a faker by Brendan Gallagher.

The world of professional sports is a highly competitive environment and in that environment it is not at all uncommon to see emotions and tempers running high. Last week the Montreal Canadiens faced off against the Ottawa Senators and in spite of the fact that neither team has anything to play for at this stage of the regular season, things got heated between the two teams.

During the course of the game Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stutzle was the victim of a knee on knee hit from Montreal Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki, an incident that appeared to leave Stutzle shaken up on the ice. You can see the replay of that collision just below:

In spite of the fact that he would remain down on the ice for quite some time, Stutzle would quickly get back into the game following the apparent injury, something that would lead to veteran Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher calling him out after the game. Gallagher, without using the word itself, called Stutzle a faker and accused him of embellishing injuries on the ice.

"When I was 10 years old, our coach had a rule: if you lay on the ice and the trainers, or if the coach had to come on the ice to get you, you're too hurt to play minimum three shifts," said Gallagher when commenting on Stutzle's behavior. 

"More than half the games we've played against him, he's laid on the ice and is right back out there the next shift."

Those are some pretty harsh criticisms for an established player in the National Hockey League to be tossing out at a relatively young player like Stutzle, and unsurprisingly they have since prompted a response from the young Senators forward. To his credit Stutzle took the high road, refusing to stoop to Gallagher's level and instead simply praised the Canadiens forward before dismissing the issue entirely.

"Everyone has their own opinion," said Stutzle in response to Gallagher's comments. "They can say what they want. I have my own opinion too. But in the end, I respect him as a player - he’s a veteran. That’s all I'm gonna say about it."