FIRE & ICE!
B’s face off vs. Ottawa tonight
Brad Marchand has been a very good player in the NHL for a long time now. But after a two-year hiatus from the playoffs, the Bruins left winger will enter the postseason with the kind of elevated profile that he’s never carried before.
Marchand made himself into a Hart Trophy candidate this season with 39 goals and 85 points. That came on top of his MVP-caliber performance for Team Canada in the World Cup. That’s new.
What isn’t new is his hard- earned reputation for playing on the edge and occasionally taking giant leaps over it.
The last time we saw March and, he was jabbing his stick into the unmentionables of Lightning defenseman Jake Dotchin, a transgression that knocked him out of an important game that wound up being the playoff clincher for the B’s. He then was suspended for two games that could have been costly for their seeding.
Marchand now has eight fines and suspensions on his resume and, judging from the tone of the NHL’s video explaining the most recent two-game vacation, the folks in the department of player safety are just about fed up with him.
On the eve of the B’s playoff opener against the Ottawa Senators, Marchand admitted he has to watch himself when he steps on the Canadian Tire Centre Ice tonight.
“Yeah, it’s tough. I’ve put myself in a bad position,” he said. “I’m under the microscope a little more, and I have to be a lot smarter than what I’ve been in the past. I definitely have to really dial it in, and I can’t have any little mistakes. But again, that’s the position I’ve put myself in and have to work my way out of.”
Does interim coach Bruce Cassidy believe Marchand can be the same player when he’s on his best behavior?
“He can be the same guy, and he has been for large stretches of time,” Cassidy said. “So I’m not concerned about that. Brad’s an intense guy. He’s intense, and sometimes that crosses the line in terms of what the referees will allow and what they won’t.
“Does he have to mind his p’s and q’s? I can’t speak to that. I hope he’s allowed the same freedom on the ice as every other player is to play the game and not get singled out. Whether that’s the case or not, I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out. But Brad seems to have good relationships with a lot of officials. He has personality, so he will talk to refs and refs will come over and say, ‘ Hey, listen, be careful here and there,’ and they’ll do it with both teams. I expect that will continue, and I expect him to be a good player for us and play the same way he always has.
“And we’ll just remind him when you start to get frustrated, take your deep breath and get back to work within the rules of the game. He’s grown and matured as a person, and I suspect he will learn something from this suspension.”
As for the hockey, Marchand’s not only had the most productive season of his career, he often carried this team through its little, or big, slumps. The last time the Bruins were in the playoffs, teams might have had other top players to stop — Jarome Iginla or Milan Lucic or Nathan Horton — but now there’s little debate as to which line is the Bruins’ top unit, or which player they’d most like to erase.
Marchand said it hasn’t changed much how opponents deal with him.
“With (Patrice Bergeron’s) line, he usually plays against top lines every night, top D pairings, so it’s really the same thing we’ve played against for years. It really hasn’t changed,” said Marchand, before adding with a grin, “But I think teams should be more worried about (David Pastrnak) than me. That kid’s dynamite. He’s fun to watch.”
It will be fun watching Marchand in his re-entry.
‘I’ve put myself in a bad position. I’m under the microscope a little more, and I have to be a lot smarter.’ — BRAD MARCHAND On his reputation