Brad Marchand Doesn't Think He Deserved Suspension For Punching, High-Sticking Goalie Tristan Jarry
BOSTON (CBS) -- Brad Marchand admits that he did something stupid. But he doesn't think he should have been suspended.
The Bruins' top-line winger spoke to the media on Friday, two days after receiving word that he had been suspended six games for punching Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry in the head and high-sticking the netminder in the helmet while being taken away from the Pittsburgh net.
"Yeah, was it stupid? Of course it was stupid. I'm not denying that. I absolutely should not have done it," Marchand told the Boston media on Friday. "But suspension-worthy? I don't think so. So, again, that's where in the moment, if I would've thought that I was getting suspended, yeah, I wouldn't have done it. Especially if I thought I was gonna get six games. So that's the part of it that gets tough sometimes, is to know where the line is. It changes for each player and from each night."
Marchand added: "I'm not gonna say or justify that what I did was right. But this was a very deep suspension for these actions."
The suspension is the second one of the season for Marchand, who was forced to miss three games earlier in the year for slew-footing Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Marchand disagreed with that suspension, noting that he's changed his game since the early days in his career when he was hit with a number of fines and suspensions. And he said that suspension led to this suspension being so long.
"These plays were not going to injury Jarry. There was going to be no potential injury on that play. He was very well-protected. And the fact that it's six games is, again, it's based on history, not on the play. So that's where it, they make the decision based on the way they see it, but we feel it was very steep," Marchand said. "At this point, it's tough to say what a suspension is. Like I never would've thought I was getting suspended for either of those things. So, if I would know where the line is then it'd be different. But there's been a lot of guys who have been punched over the years that don't get suspended after the play, especially if there's no injury. And there's a lot of sticks around people's heads, and again, I barely touched him with it."
Marchand said he's been in talks with the NHLPA about potentially appealing this suspension, a decision that Marchand said would need to be made by Friday night. (Update: An appeal has been filed.) He expressed a belief that the system for suspending players needs to be changed in the next CBA, as suspensions have gotten longer, in his own estimation.
Marchand also said it's "frustrating" and "embarrassing" to once again be in this situation, and though he doesn't agree with the suspension or its length, he accepts that he is at fault in the incident.
"The last thing I want to do is let my team down the way I did in the situation. I did, I lost my cool, there's no question about it. I've been pretty good at doing that for the last number of years, but it was a really stupid decision on my behalf, and it did hurt the team and it will hurt the team moving forward. So that's nothing that I want to do. Whether we feel the suspension is just or not, I put myself in that situation and the team in that situation, so I've gotta continue to work on being better and working on my game," Marchand said. "I'm an emotional guy. I always have been. It'll never change. That part of me will never change, and I'll never want it to change, because that's what makes me the player I am. But again, it's just making sure it's reined in."
The Bruins lost their first game of Marchand's suspension, 6-0, at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. Despite playing in just 39 of the Bruins' 45 games, Marchand leads the team with 49 points on the season.
