Brad Marchand opens up on suspension, Panarin incident and doesn't hold back
On Sunday in a game versus the Vancouver Canucks, Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand appeared to slew-foot defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson early into the game, though there was no penalty called at the time.
Despite the non-call, however, the NHL's Department of Player Safety clearly felt the play was dirty as well, and chose to suspend Marchand for three games. It marks the seventh time the 33-year-old has been suspended, and he will have to forfeit north of $90,000 as a result of this particular incident. Despite his previous offences however, he seemed rather surprised about the suspension when asked about it on Tuesday.
"I was obviously surprised,» Marchand said. «My opinion on it doesn't really matter."
"It is what it is."
Marchand also commented on an incident with New York Rangers forward Artemi Panarin from a few games prior. During this particular play, Panarin threw his glove at Marchand and it was reported afterward that he made some disparaging marks to the Russian forward about his rocky relationship with his home country. While Marchand did confirm that he poked fun at Panarin, he doesn't see an issue with what he said.
«I said no one in Russia likes him,» Marchand said. «If that's what sets guys over the edge, then this is the softest league in the world.»
Incidents like these are what makes Marchand unanimously hated by every fan base in the NHL other than his own, which is something he relishes. He is a very unique player who is not only the one of the game's best agitators, but also one of its truly elite players. He is off to another fantastic start this season with 24 points in 18 games.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex Tuch | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Owen Power | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Drew Helleson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jirí Kulich | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Isac Lundestrom | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Johnston | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Trevor Zegras | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||