ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- In a rare outburst, Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen on Friday criticized the team for not paying his salary this season and threatened to skip the final two races of the season in protest. Speaking after the second practice session of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the former F1 champion said he had to be persuaded to race here and added that he is still upset about a tense exchange with a member of the technical staff at last weekends Indian GP. "Sometimes it is not very nice when you hear that you are not really a team player, and you dont have the interests of the team (at heart) -- but you have been paid zero euro(s) the whole year," said Raikkonen, who is usually reluctant to speak to media. Raikkonen, who is joining Ferrari next season, added that he would consider skipping the United States GP and Brazilian GP if he does not receive his money. "For sure. I enjoy racing, I enjoy driving, but a big part of it is business. Sometimes when that is not dealt with like it should we end up in an unfortunate situation," he said. "You have to put the line somewhere, and if it goes over that ... it is not really my fault." Raikkonens comments came just hours after Lotus chairman Gerard Lopez has played down the rift between Raikkonen and trackside operations director Alan Permane last Sunday. In blunt terms, Raikkonen was told over the race radio by Permane not to hold up teammate Romain Grosjean. Raikkonen skipped media duties on Thursday, which fueled speculation about growing unrest, and the 34-year-old Finnish driver confirmed that he came close not to racing in Abu Dhabi. "I came here only because hopefully we found an understanding on the certain issues we have been having," Raikkonen said. "Hopefully it will be fixed and we can finish the season as well as we can." Although the argument with Permane was not the main factor in his decision to speak out, Raikkonen said it did upset him. "It is a part of it. It is true those things should not happen but they have happened," Raikkonen said. "(But) that is not really the issue. It is all the other stuff." The 2007 champion is also annoyed that his loyalty to the team has been questioned despite him racing without pay. "It doesnt put you in the best place," he said. "That is how it goes and hopefully, like I said, we found an understanding on both sides on how we should deal with the situation right now." Only hours earlier, Lopez insisted all was fine. "Recently a lot was made about the comments between Alan Permane and Kimi during the course of a tense moment in a race, but this was just one exchange taking a matter of seconds in the course of a two-year relationship," Lopez said Friday. "It certainly wasnt the most beneficial few seconds, but you have to step back and accept that everyone is passionate about racing and sometimes these things do happen." Lopez did acknowledge, however, that the financial situation was poorly handled. "For a long time we had the opportunity to keep him in our hands, but we werent able to operate to the timeframe -- or make the offer -- that Ferrari were able to do," Lopez said. "For me this brought sadness, as its like a prodigal son leaving us." Lopez also praised the influence that Raikkonen has had on Grosjean -- the Frenchman who has hit form late into the season with three consecutive third-place finishes. "Had Romain been next to a more junior driver, or a less capable driver, we probably would still not know how good Romain is," Lopez said. "For Romain to be delivering the results he is doing so now, its really very much because he is driving next to probably one of the best Formula One drivers ever. Kimi has been a tremendous help." Lotus still has an outside shot at finishing second behind Red Bull in the constructors championship. Mercedes, with 313 points, and Ferrari, with 309, are in a stronger position while Lotus stands at 285. "The only reason were fighting for second is because of all the points that Kimi has scored," Lopez said. Raikkonen is third overall behind Fernando Alonso and recently-crowned world champion Sebastian Vettel. wholesale jerseys . -- NHL general managers spent the first day of their three-day meetings discussing overtime and shootouts, expanded video reviews and goalie interference. wholesale nfl jerseys china . -- Phoenix Coyotes captain Shane Doan has what the team believes is a form of Rocky Mountain Fever and is responding to medication. http://www.wholesalejerseysdeals.u... . Theyve had injuries to key players, turned the roster over significantly with an early season trade and had low expectations after a regime change portended a possible tear down and rebuild. [url=http://www.wholesalejerseysdeals.us.com/]wholesale jerseys china . Nine days after the Alouettes announced the veteran Higgins as their new head coach, he finally met with the media in the teams Olympic Stadium locker-room and introduced his coaching staff on Thursday.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Ryan Getzlaf grabbed the three pucks wrapped in tape and held them up to his chest in the Anaheim Ducks dressing room for a celebration nine seasons in the making. "About time, eh?" he said. "Ive been waiting for this one for a while." Anaheims consummate playmaker finally had a hat trick of his own in the latest overwhelming victory for the league-leading Ducks. Getzlaf had three goals and an assist in the first period, linemate Dustin Penner also scored four points, and the Ducks remained the NHLs only unbeaten home team with a 6-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night. Getzlaf nearly didnt play after taking a tumble in the morning skate. Instead, he got his first career hat trick before the first intermission as the league-leading Ducks (14-3-1) trounced the league-worst Sabres (3-15-1) for their seventh win in eight games overall. While improving to 7-0 at home, the Ducks got a landmark performance from their captain, who usually makes his living setting up longtime teammate Corey Perry for the bulk of the former Richard Trophy winners goals. With big assists from Penner and Perry, Getzlaf finally got his first hat trick in his 574th regular-season game. "They were really dominant tonight," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said of his top line. "There was no doubt. You could tell, as soon as he started his skating, that Ryan was great. When we got the power-play goal early, it was because he did something he doesnt normally do, which is jump right into the play after a shot. As soon as he did that, I said OK, hes going to have a good game." The veteran centre tied the franchise record for points in a period while picking up just the second first-period hat trick in Ducks history. Teemu Selanne also did it in November 1997. "Thats why hes got the C," said Penner, who had three first-period assists and a second-period goal in his first four-point game since December 2009. "He shows what a great leader he is by getting timely goals." Getzlaf finished the first period with nine points in his last nine periods, including three multipoint performances in Anaheims last four outings to move up to second place among the leagues overall scoring leaders. He has 13 points in the Ducks last eight games while playing with Perry and Penner, reassembling their line from the Ducks Stanley Cup-winning team in 2007. "The way we used to play together and work around each other, it feels like its the same," Getzlaf said. Frederik Andersen made 25 saves and improved to 5-0 in his NHL career as Anaheim won its seventh straight at Honda Center. Cam Fowler also scored in the first period for the Ducks, and Richard Rakell earned his first NHL point on a slick backhand assist for Andrew Coglianos second-period goal.dddddddddddd Mikhail Grigorenko scored his first two goals of the season for the Sabres, who finished their three-game California road swing with back-to-back losses. Ryan Miller stopped 28 shots in the first two periods while dropping to 2-11. "It was a disaster to be part of," Miller said. "Ive been a part of many disasters in my career. You just have to turn the page and move on." The Sabres struggled defensively without key defenceman Christian Ehrhoff, who sat out with a lower-body injury. Jhonas Enroth replaced Miller in the third period for the Sabres, who have lost six of seven overall. Anaheim also won 6-3 in Buffalo last Saturday. "Theyre a great team, (but) that line especially is the top one in the NHL," Buffalo centre Cody Hodgson said. "We didnt have a good start, and they capitalized on it. Its not the ending you want to a road trip, but we had a good win against the Sharks, and well take that from it. But there were not a lot of positives to build off of from this game." The Ducks were sizzling in their second game since returning from an eight-game East Coast trip. Anaheim is off to the best home start in the franchises two decades of existence, outscoring its opponents 33-12. The Ducks scored just four power play goals in their first 16 1/2 games this season, dropping to last overall in the NHL, before scoring four more in a 35-minute stretch that began Wednesday against Phoenix and extended into the lopsided first period against Buffalo. After Getzlaf batted home a rebound in the slot just 2:11 in, Fowler scored Anaheims second power-play goal midway through the period. Grigorenko answered with a goal on a nifty behind-the-net pass from Cody McCormick, but Getzlaf jumped on a Buffalo turnover and fired a wrist shot for an unassisted goal. Getzlaf completed the hat trick with 20 seconds left in the period, scoring on a backhand all alone in front after a pass from Perry. The traditional hat shower from the Anaheim crowd only began gradually, with many fans stunned by Getzlafs feat. NOTES: Ehrhoff was hurt in the third period Thursday night in Los Angeles. LW Ville Leino was a healthy scratch. ... ... Selanne played in his 1,400th NHL game. The 43-year-old Finnish Flash is just the third European player to reach the mark, joining Nicklas Lidstrom and Jaromir Jagr. ... The Ducks are 10-0-1 when Penner is in the lineup. ... Ducks C Saku Koivu (upper body) and F Jakob Silfverberg (broken right hand) sat out their seventh straight games. G Viktor Fasth missed his 12th straight game with a lower-body injury, but could return to practice soon. cheap nfl jerseys wholesale nfl jerseys wholesale nfl jerseys cheap nfl jerseys cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '