Marchand was suspended Monday by league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan for his clip on Canucks defenseman Sami Salo on Saturday.
Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand won't be eligible to return until Jan. 19 at New Jersey.Boston Bruins fans love Brad Marchand.
He’s quick, edgy, plays with a lot of heart and knows how to get underneath people’s skin. But what he did to the Vancouver Canucks’ Sami Salo during Saturday’s Stanley Cup Finals rematch shouldn’t be condoned.
With 1:13 left in the second period, Marchand clipped Salo at the end boards to send the defenseman on his back, headfirst. Marchand received a five-minute major and game misconduct.
Bruins fans initially cheered the play, excited to see a Canuck go down, but let’s get this straight. What Marchand did was wrong and he deserved what he got – a five-game suspension issued from league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan.
Marchand, a repeat offender, had a phone hearing with Shanahan Monday afternoon to explain his actions. He argued he was trying to protect himself from a check, but the league felt it wasn’t defensive or instinctive. In the end, it was Salo who got hurt as he was diagnosed with a concussion the next day.
Video footage shows Marchand did not play the puck, saw Salo coming in his direction, bent down low and hit him in the knees to send him over his back. It was dangerous and Marchand needs to recognize this.
The clipping isn’t anything new. Going back to Game 4 of the Cup Finals, Marchand did it to Daniel Sedin with 2:27 left in the third period after he committed a holding penalty on Christian Ehrhoff. Marchand received six minutes of penalties for holding, tripping and roughing.
Vancouver was up in arms over the play, but this didn’t stop the Canucks from doing it themselves. In Game 5, Mason Raymond returned the gesture to Marchand in front of the Bruins bench. In retaliation, Bruins captain Zdeno Chara later sent a message with a monster check of Raymond against the boards.
You didn’t hear much from the Boston side about Raymond’s play, unlike the Canucks, who like to vent to the media.
And that’s the difference between the two teams.
Over the weekend, Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault made some distasteful comments about Bruins coach Claude Julien, who defended Marchand. And honestly, what coach wouldn’t stick up for his own player? Julien’s not going to sit there and throw his players under the bus, and he’s fully aware the Canucks aren’t angels themselves.
Julien did nothing wrong here and the same goes for Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli, who jumped in and called out Vigneault for saying Marchand is “going to get it someday” and someone is “going to hurt the kid.” Obviously he’s upset his player is out with a concussion, but threatening Marchand doesn’t make it go away.
Let’s be real. Saturday’s game wasn’t pretty, and both the Bruins and Canucks were guilty of dirty plays.
It’s a good thing they only play each other once a year in the regular season.
One time is enough is for me.
Amanda Bruno can be reached at abruno@repub.com