MARCHAND MADNESS
History of fines, suspensions means it’s crazy not to expect high scrutiny
Accidents will happen in life, to be sure. And when life is happening on the regulation 200-by-85foot ice rink, the chances of those accidents happening increase exponentially.
If the Chicago forward Anthony Duclair’s collision had occurred with any other player in the NHL, it might have been chalked up as just that, an accident.
But he didn’t col- lide with just anybody. He crashed into Bruins forward Brad Marchand, who has been suspended six times in his NHL career and received multiple fines.
And because of that, many are wondering if Marchand will receive suspension No. 7.
Late word yesterday was Marchand will not have another hearing with league disciplinarians. But the assumption most of us — Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy included — made was that Marchand’s reputation would at least get him called on the carpet by the Department of Player Safety.
“I expect they will because it’s Brad,” said Cassidy. “But when I looked at the replay, it looked like two guys just turning and trying to get the hell out of the way from each other. But it doesn’t matter. It’s what they’re going to see.”
The way the NHL looks at such matters is if Marchand had done something deemed worthy of supplemental discipline, then his record would most certainly work against him. But until he crosses that line, then the reputation doesn’t come into play.
The smashup in question happened midway through the first period when Marchand was circling away from the puck in his own zone. As he headed up ice, he quickly encountered Duclair coming the other way. With Duclair owning about 10 pounds and a couple of inches on the Bruins star, Marchand did the prudent thing and tried to get out of the way. As he went airborne, his arm caught Duclair up high, causing him to fall backward and twist his foot underneath his body. Duclair needed help to get off the ice and did not return.
At least one of Duclair’s Chicago teammates thought the worst of Marchand.
“I think it was a dirty play,” said defenseman Erik Gustafsson before softening his stance just a bit. “I think Marchand sees him coming and I don’t know how, if he does it on purpose or not. (Duclair) got stuck, one of his feet, when he hit the ice. I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him. He’s a good player. I hope he’s back soon.”
Marchand, who was just tagged for a $2,000 fine due to embellishment in the Bruins win over Pittsburgh last week (a decision Marchand harshly criticized on Friday), was adamant that the collision was an accident.
“I was turning up ice and he was coming down on the forecheck,” said Marchand. “We both got caught in the train tracks and kind of didn’t know which direction to go. We just tried to avoid each other. It’s really unfortunate. I think he twisted his foot or something. That’s tough to see.”
Perhaps backing up his argument was the fact that his first inclination was not to argue with the interference call — now that may have been reputation induced — but rather he circled back to Duclair in a show of concern.
“I think it’s pretty clear that I was trying to get out of the way, he was trying to get out of the way,” said Marchand. “Again, I think he twisted up his foot. It’s tough. Things like that happen in hockey. You never want to see a guy get hurt. We were trying to avoid each other.”
And it looks like he avoided any discipline on this one. But the general feeling that Marchand might be in trouble for an unfortunate accident underscores how much of a reputation he has across the league.
His last suspension was a five gamer for a flying elbow on New Jersey’s Marcus Johansson. His next suspension, if and when it comes, could be a doozy.
The B’s are a legitimate contender. Without Marchand — fourth in the league in points per game (1.30) — they are much less. For the sake of his team, he’d better watch himself the rest of the way.