After the Bruins beat the Canadiens 5-4 in overtime to even the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal at two games apiece, Ference addressed the situation.
"It looks awful; I just saw it," he said of the replay. "I can assure you that's not part of my repertoire. I think my glove got caught up. I can assure you that's not part of who I am or what I ever have been. It looks awful. I admit it and I completely apologize to how it looks. I was putting my fist in the air. I'm sorry. It does look awful. I don't know what else to say."
On Friday, the NHL announced Ference was fined $2,500 "for an obscene gesture" during Game 4.
"It looks really bad," Ference said after the game. "All I can do is tell you the truth, and that's the truth. I totally agree it looks bad. I can assure you that's not who I am or ever will be. I was pumping my fist in the air. I don't score too many goals and that's about all I have in my [celebration] repertoire."
Bruins coach Claude Julien said he hadn't seen the replay of the incident.
"I didn't see it, so I can't comment," Julien said. "I've heard about it, but I haven't had a chance to talk with Andrew. If you ask me, I'm surprised because that's not Andrew at all. I'm shocked. I don't know whether it happened, or what, but I would be very surprised. That's not his style."
Montreal coach Jacques Martin said he did not see the gesture.
Prior to Ference's goal -- which cut Boston's deficit to 3-2 -- Canadiens forward Brian Gionta drilled Ference hard into the boards in the Bruins' end. Ference got to his feet, got into the play in the offensive zone and knuckled a shot past Montreal goaltender Carey Price.
"Honestly, it was rolling and I just whacked it, and 90 percent of the time it goes off the glass. I got lucky it went in," Ference said.
Joe McDonald covers the Bruins for ESPNBoston.com.
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