Nick Cousins Shares What Anthony Stolarz Whispered to Him During Handshake Line

There was a lot of tension in the Battle of Ontario to say the least. From the fans to the players to the coaches, the animosity ran high and there was certainly no love lost between the two teams.

Things seemed to have boiled over into unsportsmanlike territory when Nick Cousins lobbed at puck towards an unsuspecting Anthony Stolarz during warmups, not only costing him a small dent in his wallet, but also costing his team a bit of money as well.

Stolarz smoothed things over, Ottawa coach Travis Green tried to play innocent, and the NHL took umbrage with how things played out.

But in the end, it was Stolarz and the Maple Leafs who ended up eliminating the Senators and sending Cousins home early.

However it was during the traditional handshake line that Cousins revealed the goaltender mentioned to him that bygones will be bygones, and the lobbed puck was something he'd keep from getting out to protect his friend:

At least we know that Stolarz was not the culprit who pointed out the action, and was in fact not really even aware of what happened, however it could easily seen as friends being friends, trying to alleviate some tension between the teams.

Both men played together in Philadelphia's AHL organization and became good friends, so it's not surprising that Cousins would do something to tease or otherwise bug Stolarz in a friendly manner. He didn't slap a puck towards him, he didn't aim at his head; he was just being a bit of a goofball and it cost Cousins.

It wasn't just Cousins who tried to get under the skin of the Maple Leafs in the series, as Ridly Grieg and Artem Zub tried their best to make life hell for their opponents but it wasn't enough, yet neither man was punished for either of their actions so it's a bit bizarre why the NHL didn't do anything.

It's at least classy that Stolarz held no hard feelings towards Cousins, and while there is certainly a ton of tension and bitterness between the two teams, at least the two can be friendly with each other.

Until the next playoff series comes around that is.