Bruins' Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak refute "blatant lies" about rift in locker room
BOSTON -- Boston Bruins teammates Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak emphatically shot down a report that the two are at odds amidst the team's struggles during the 2024-25 season. Both players laughed off the report, and Marchand went after the radio host who started the kerfuffle on Friday morning.
WEEI midday host Rich Keefe reported on-air Friday morning that the Boston locker room is a mess, and Pastrnak is at the center of the issue. Boston's top winger doesn't want to share a line with Marchand, which Keefe said may stem from the Bruins captain calling out Pastrnak for some lackluster play throughout the season.
Marchand caught wind of the report ahead of the team's practice in Florida on Friday, and unloaded on Keefe when chatting with reporters after the session.
Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak refute report of a rift
Marchand said it's "unfortunate" that such a story is out there now, because it's completely made up. He did not hold back, accusing Keefe of fabricating the entire tale.
"I know reporters have a job to do and that job is to report on the team. Usually you try to be fact-based. But when there are blatant lies told in the media, that is where there is a problem," Marchand began.
"The fact that this guy has a platform and is just making things up is embarrassing," he continued. "There is zero truth to anything he said on the radio. This is how you lose a job very quickly. The fact that he's going to have a job after this is insane, because Pasta and I are best friends. We've had an incredibly close relationship for a long time. The only reason we don't play together is so we can spread the depth through the lineup.
"There is zero truth to him being a problem in the room," Marchand said of Pastrnak. "He's one of the most loved guys in the room. There are zero issues in the room at all, and the fact they said he's in the center of anything is a completely fabricated lie. This guy has zero merit to anything he's saying."
Pastrnak was unaware of the report that he didn't want to play on a line with his longtime teammate until Marchand told him about it during practice. At first, Pastrnak thought Marchand was pulling his leg.
"I honestly thought he was just making fun of me, so I started laughing," said Pastrnak, who hadn't seen the clip before talking with reporters in Florida.
"I have never said in my hockey career that I don't want to play with this guy to the coaching staff or management. I love playing with Marchand," said Pastrnak. "I've been playing with him for so long, so I can't imagine going to coaches and saying I don't want to play with this guy."
While he was incredibly miffed with the story, Marchand said that he and Pastrnak joked about it throughout Friday's practice.
"We laughed about it. We had a really good laugh about it. We've been making fun of each other all day on the ice," said Marchand. "We have a phenomenal relationship. Our wives and kids have great relationships. We have no issues laughing about that and putting this to bed."
"This is 100 percent false," added Pastrnak. "Unless it's something I don't know about."
Marchand frustrated over false report
Marchand understands that such stories wouldn't be coming out if the Bruins were having some success on the ice. Tuesday night's loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning was the team's sixth straight, dropping Boston to 20-19-5 on the season. The team's playoff chances are teetering with this recent skid.
"It's very frustrating. This is what happens when -- we obviously have not pulled our weight this year and not had the season we've wanted to have," Marchand admitted. "But I'm not going to let some random guy in the media spit nonsense. From this point forward, this guy has zero credibility. The fact he's coming out with this is ridiculous, it's embarrassing, and anything he puts forward in the future is now not going to be deemed as truth. He is completely making all of this up.
"If he would have fact-checked, he would have found out it's all nonsense" Marchand continued. "It's ridiculous that now we even have to address it. But I'm not going to let it become something it's not. This guy can go pound sand and go back to the closet where no one knew who he was before and report on nothing, because that's what he's going to be doing after this."
Marchand said this is much different from when people vent about the team on social media.
"I don't care what people say on social media. That's their opinion. But for him to go on the [radio] and speak it as fact and truth, and to have a conversation about this -- it reaches a lot of people and it's not going to become a story, because it's not what is going on," he said. "If there are issues that would need to be dealt with, we would deal with them internally. But that's not the case in this situation."
The Bruins will look to stop their slide on Saturday afternoon when they pay a visit to the Florida Panthers, who are 25-12-2 on the season. Boston dropped both of its matchups against Florida in October.
While the Bruins swept last season's regular-season series with the Panthers, Florida sent them home in six games in the second round of last season's playoffs.
