"Rene Bourque could sleep soundly Friday night, secure in the knowledge that he wouldn't have to wake up and face Joel (The Wrecker) Rechlicz.

The Washington Capitals recalled Rechlicz from the Hershey Bears earlier this week. Coach Dale Hunter said it was part of move to make the slumping Capitals tougher and when Rechlicz was flexing his jaw muscles Wednesday, he suggested that he would try his tough-guy act against Bourque when the Caps and the Canadiens clashed Saturday at the Bell Centre.

You might recall that the Capitals weren't happy when Bourque, who was playing for the Calgary Flames at the time, elbowed Nicklas Backstrom in a game on Jan. 3. Backstrom is still on the sidelines with a concussion and it was a given that Washington would exact a measure of revenge after Bourque was traded to Montreal and the teams met at the Bell Centre on Jan.12.

It didn't quite work out the way the Capitals planned. On Bourque's first shift, he took the matter into his own hands and started trading punches with Matt Hendricks. Quite simply, Bourque won the fight.

But the prospect of Rechlicz taking a run at Bourque ended Friday when the Capitals placed him on waivers for the purpose of returning him to the minors before Saturday's game.

Bourque wasn't the only one who was spared some unpleasantness.

The CBC and RDS may have been forced to run one of those warnings prior to Saturday's telecast of the Canadiens-Washington game.

You know the one that says: The following program contains scenes of violence and coarse language, viewer discretion is advised. "