Brad Marchand opens up about Sam Bennett's punch, 'trying to hurt' people in playoffs
It appears Brad Marchand is back. The Bruins captain practiced in full at Warrior Ice Arena on Thursday and said afterwards that he will "hopefully" be able to play in Friday night's Game 6 against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden.
Boston coach Jim Montgomery said Marchand "looked good" in practice, but still had "boxes to check." He did not yet officially declare him good to go for Game 6.
Marchand has missed the last two games after getting sucker-punched by Panthers center Sam Bennett in Game 3. WEEI's Rich Keefe reported that Marchand was in concussion protocol.
Marchand met with the media after Thursday's practice and made his first public comments since the controversial play. He was asked if he thought it was a "cheap shot" from Bennett.
"He plays hard. He's an extremely physical player, great player for their group," Marchand said of Bennett. "I think he got away with a shot, but I'm not going to complain. S*** happens. That's part of, especially, playoff hockey. I've been on the other side of a lot of plays. I think he got away with one, but I mean, that's part of the game and definitely part of playoff hockey. It sucks to be on the other side of it, but that stuff happens. So, I'm not gonna sit here and complain about it. That's part of the game. I think he got away with one, but it is what it is."
Marchand was then asked if it's too late in the series to worry about revenge. Bennett declined an offer to fight from Pat Maroon, and the Bruins have landed a couple hard hits on him, but otherwise there hasn't really been any retribution to speak of given that the B's have been more worried about winning games and getting back in the series.
"I mean, that's part of the game," Marchand said. "And it's part of the playoffs, is… people don't want to say it, but part of playoffs is trying to hurt every player on the other team. The more guys you take out, the more advantage your team has. People don't say that, but that's just a fact of the game. So, every time you step on the ice, someone's trying to hurt someone.
"That's just how it goes in playoffs. Any time you can get an advantage on a team, that's going to help your team win. That's part of the benefit of having a physical group. And that's why you see teams go the distance with a D corps and physical teams, and it's why you rarely see teams that are small and skilled go far because they get hurt."
Marchand made it clear that there wasn't going to be any "woe is me" from himself, or "woe is us" from the Bruins as a team.
"Guys on that team, they compete hard," Marchand said. "That's the way you want your guys to play in the playoffs. That's the way that teams that win usually play. And that's how we've been playing. We play hard. And when that happens, guys get caught sometimes and sometimes guys get hurt. Again, I'm not gonna complain about it. It is what it is, and that's playoff hockey.
"That's what makes winning a Cup so hard to do, and that's what makes it so gratifying, is you've got to play through situations like this and you've got to be able to go through the adversity. We went through it the year that we won with [Nathan] Horton going down, a lot of guys getting hurt, and you come out of it. It's how you respond as a team and bounce back from this stuff. But that's playoff hockey. Maybe people don't like it, but it's not soccer, it's not basketball.
"Like, it's the hardest trophy to win, and you're playing, you're willing to sacrifice your body and hurt other guys and do whatever it takes to win. And if you don't like it, then don't play in the playoffs. But it's the best time of the year, and if I have to get hurt to win or if I have to hurt someone to win, I don't care. That's part of it. I'm not gonna complain, because if I'm him, I'm doing the same thing. So, I'm not gonna complain. That's the game. That's how you win."
With all that said, Marchand was excited about shifting the attention to Game 6 and potentially getting back on the ice in front of the TD Garden crowd.
"I mean, this is this what we play for," Marchand said. "This is why we started playing hockey. We want to live our dreams, to try to win a Cup. It's the Stanley Cup playoffs, we're fighting for our lives. Guys are excited about that. There's no 'poor me' attitude in this room. It's a great opportunity, and whether it goes our way or not, we're gonna go in and leave everything we have on the ice and enjoy the moment. You never know when you're gonna be in the second round of playoffs ever again. It may happen, it may not. So, you've got to enjoy the moment and be grateful for it, and I think our group is."
