Brad Marchand Suspended, Will Miss Winter Classic
Earlier today, Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand had a hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. He was called to task for his very low hit on Ottawa Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki in last night’s game. Now the big question here was would Boston’s ‘Little Ball of Hate’ miss the 2016 Winter Classic because of this hit?
Well, now we know. Courtesy of the impartial and unbiased and naturally correct Department of Player Safety.
Boston’s Brad Marchand has been suspended 3 games for clipping Ottawa’s Mark Borowiecki. Video: https://t.co/hpu2gBu5DN
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) December 31, 2015
Most Bruins fans knew something like this was coming. Brad Marchand, thanks to his slew-footing of New York Rangers forward Derick Brassard last year qualifies as a repeat offender under the rules of the CBA. This gave the league significantly more latitude to tack on games to a suspension. Thankfully, Borowiecki was back on the ice spending time to be a doormat for other Bruins in Boston’s 7-3 win.
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This will be Marchand’s third suspension in his seven-season career with the Black and Gold. He was suspended in the past for his hit on Brassard, and back in 2012 for doing something very similar to Sami Salo. Under the rules of the CBA, Brad Marchand will be forfeiting $164,634.15. Brad Marchand believed he did nothing wrong on his hit on Borowiecki, and shared his feeling with the media after the game.
‘€”It was a simple play,’€” said Marchand of his hit. “€œI mean, I was trying to get to the puck area and turned up ice. He was kind of standing there. I just turned up and tried to go after the puck-carrier.”
This just makes the Winter Classic a little more lopsided. The Bruins will be without two of their best offensive players. No David Krejci, and now no Brad Marchand.
It’s not like a former Canadien is currently the head of Player Safety, oh wait a second there.
That small amount of venting aside, a lot of us knew what Marchand did was dumb. Dumb, reckless, and very surprising to a guy who had just been awarded the letter ‘A’ for the first time. Now, he’ll have to watch it from the stands like the rest of us.