Pesky Marchand making his case for spot on World Cup team

Brendan Gallagher said he was only joking. He wasn’t actually going to “jump” Brad Marchand when he wasn’t looking — something he promised to do if a Team Canada Twitter campaign aimed at getting Connor McDavid on the cover of NHL 17 received 10,000 retweets. But he also didn’t want to break his word.

“He should keep one eye open,” Gallagher told TSN.

By Thursday morning, more than 11,680 people had retweeted Gallagher’s promise. Most of them were probably Montreal Canadiens fans, although with Marchand the hate is not exactly limited to one fan base or one team.

The Boston Bruins forward, who has been called a rat, a pest, a weasel and worse, has enemies from all over the NHL.

This year alone, he took a spear to the groin from Vancouver’s Brandon Prust, was blindsided with a hit to the head from Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog and received more F-bombs than most meter maids.

As Marchand said, “I feel a lot of hate. Like it’s all of Canada.”

These days, however, there’s been nothing but love for the Team Canada forward at the world hockey championship.

And most of it has come from Gallagher, who joked that the worst part about the tournament is that Marchand has turned out to be a “pretty good guy.”

“I really get along with Brad,” said Gallagher.

“I told him that I found it almost hard to believe. I just loved to hate him for so many seasons. But when you get to know him, you realize he’s a very good guy.”

Of course, this is coming from Gallagher, who might not be as sewer-rat dirty as Marchand, but still admitted “we may have a similar DNA.”

Their ability to go from foes to fast friends and find success on a forward line together raises the obvious question: is there room for a pest on Canada’s roster at the upcoming World Cup of Hockey?

Theoren Fleury played the role of hockey’s heel for Canada at the 1998 and 2002 Olympics, but there were nothing close to a Brad Marchand or a Brendan Gallagher on either of the teams that won gold in 2010 and 2014. Instead, Canada relied on its skilled players to adapt to checking roles.

Marchand and Gallagher present an interesting dynamic, in that they check both boxes. They are a pain in the neck. But it’s because they pester and produce at the same time.

Marchand ranked sixth in the NHL with 37 goals this season. Gallagher, who had 19 goals and 40 points in 53 games, was on pace for a 60-point season if he stayed healthy.

“Obviously, at the end of the day I’d love to be there,” said Marchand. “But it’s kind of out of my hands now. I’m just worried about playing well at this tournament and helping my team win and whatever happens with that team happens. It will sort itself out.”

While Marchand probably has a better chance of making the team than Gallagher, the Halifax native is also known as a bigger wild card. Marchand was suspended for three games for clipping Ottawa’s Mark Borowiecki and was fined US$5,000 for sucker-punching Landeskog after receiving that hit to the head. No one in the top 40 in NHL scoring had anywhere close to his 90 penalty minutes, which would have been double that amount if the stricter international referees were calling the games.

“The refs here tend to call a lot and you definitely have to be aware,” said Marchand, who has two goals and has taken two penalties in three games at the world championship.

“Anytime you take a penalty in this tournament, it’s enough to cost you a game or a momentum swing. And you don’t want to put your team at a disadvantage here so you definitely have to be aware of how they call games and situations that you’re in.”

If Marchand, who won gold at both the 2007 and 2008 world juniors, can straddle the line and not cross it — something he did in an 8-0 win against Belarus, when he drew an elbowing penalty — then he could be valuable to a team looking to ice the best players. “Each year I’m trying to get a little bit away from that (his role as a pest) and become a bigger and better player,” said Marchand, who was second among Canadianborn players in goals. “Especially with the way the refs crack down on that nowadays, it’s tough to do that all the time. I definitely like to help in any way and be a part of that team.”

Added Team Canada head coach Bill Peters: “I think he’s more skilled than he is a pest now. He’s an elite skilled guy. These goals aren’t by accident. He plays with pace, he plays the right way, he’s great on the forecheck and he’s committed away from the puck. He has the puck a lot because he does good things. So he’s a legit good player.”

And yet, he’s still a bit of a youknow-what. Marchand knows that. And Gallagher, who knows this brief friendship will expire after the world championship is over, does, too.

“I have no doubt in my mind when I line up against him (next season), he’ll stick me or do something stupid,” said Gallagher.

“It won’t take long.”