Stars align for Marchand, Rask
ST. LOUIS — Considering the hockey mountaintop upon which Brad Marchand stood after the World Cup of Hockey in September, you’d think being named an NHL All-Star wouldn’t mean much. And in truth, he wasn’t paying much attention to the process.
But after he was named to the Atlantic Division squad yesterday along with Bruins teammate Tuukka Rask (both are first-timers), Marchand was appreciative of the honor.
“I never really expected to see that during my career, especially coming in,” Marchand said before last night’s game against the Blues. “But it’s something I’m very proud of, and it should be a lot of fun.”
While his scoring is down from last season when he set a career mark of 37 goals, the winger does lead the B’s with 36 points (14 goals including one in the first period last night). He’s also starting to heat up, having scored four times in three games.
The perception of Marchand as just a pest is changing, to an extent.
“It seems to diminish a little bit each year . . . with the World Cup and then this,” Marchand said. “Hopefully it continues to change people’s mindsets a bit. But I know I’ll always be hated by other teams’ fans, and that’s how it is.”
Rask, who entered last night with a 1.93 goalsagainst average, .928 save percentage and five shutouts (tied for the league lead with fellow All-Star goalies Braden Holtby and Devan Dubnyk), was a slam dunk for his first All-Star weekend, but David Pastrnak’s 19 goals weren’t enough to earn him a nod.
The 20-year-old was not complaining.
“I’m excited for the guys. It’d be nice to go to the Allstar (weekend), but I’m young, and (Marchand) worked a long time, and I’m really happy for him,” Pastrnak said. “(Making the Allstar team) came in my mind, but it’s not like I’m disappointed or something.”