Brad Marchand met with the media on Friday for the first time since he was suspended six games for punching and high-sticking Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry on Tuesday.
Marchand acknowledged that what he did was “stupid,” but said he doesn’t believe it was suspension-worthy and that the only reason he got such a long suspension was because of his history. This was Marchand’s eighth career suspension, and his longest one yet.
Marchand also said he is considering appealing the decision. He opened about what his hearing with the Department of Player Safety was like and how he feels about this suspension now being added to his history and reputation.
Here is everything he had to say:
What triggered that?
“It really doesn’t matter. It was a situation that arose and I reacted very poorly. So it really doesn’t matter what started it. In that situation, I obviously have to be much better at controlling my emotions and not reacting that way.”
Can you and will you appeal?
“Yeah, I think anything over five games you can appeal. Been talking a lot over the last couple days with the PA, going over our options. I think we have to decide by tonight [Friday]. We’re gonna talk again here and kind of go from there. But yeah, definitely something we’re looking at.”
Is there any downside to appealing?
“I don’t think there is any downside. Again, it’s something I have to continue to talk about and figure out exactly if there is a downside, but I don’t think there is. It kind of makes sense to do anyway.”
What was the hearing with the Department of Player Safety like?
“It was kind of about the play. Similar to every situation, it’s about the play. Talked a lot about history, which I think is what was the biggest factor in this one. Very, very hefty suspension for these plays. The only way they can justify that is on the history side of things.”
Do they measure the progress you made between 2018 and this season?
“They don’t. They don’t measure progress, which I’ve come to find out. It goes back to the last one. That’s when I really found it out. We believe that the last suspension was very hefty when I got three games [for slew-footing Oliver Ekman-Larsson]. It should’ve been one, based on the fact that I’ve turned my game around and become an elite player in this league, but they said you’re not gonna escape the history part of it, which ultimately set me up for this one. Again, I’m not gonna say or justify that what I did was right, but this was a very deep suspension for these actions.”
Is there a way you can show that progress or make that case?
“No, there’s not. I don’t think anyone really understands how the process works. It needs to change. Moving forward, it’s definitely something that’s gonna have to be looked at in the next CBA, the way that this process is done. Suspensions are getting bigger and bigger with certain circumstances and incidents. Again, it’s gonna be a process in any sport.”
In these hearings, can you bring up hits against the Bruins (like the Garnet Hathaway hit on Marchand himself)?
“You can bring up anything. They’re pretty good about having an open dialogue. George [Parros] is the one you’re typically on the call with. He’s good about having an open dialogue. Whatever you want to bring up, his job is to kind of look at everything, and they do. They try to look at the whole situation, but prior instances don’t come into play in each suspension. It doesn’t have anything to do with the play, what happened with the Hathaway hit and what happened against Pittsburgh. So it’s tough to kind of put them in the same conversation. They really don’t have any effect on each other. But they look at everything.
“They looked at that hit [from Hathaway]. I didn’t ask him about it, but he would’ve had his reasons why he didn’t give a suspension. I don’t think it’s anything personal. I just don’t think they thought it was a suspendible act. There’s different thresholds for different players. Mine’s obviously a lot lower than other guys at this point, which obviously I’ve brought on myself.
“I’m not denying that I haven’t crossed the line a lot and done some bad things, but at this point, with where I’ve brought my game to the last number of years -- again, they threw the book at me on the last one, which really doubled it up on this one. These plays were not going to injure Jarry. There was no potential injury on that play. He was very well protected. The fact that it’s six games, again, it’s based on history and not on the play. They make a decision based on the way they see it, but we feel it was very steep.”
Can you keep the edge in your game without going over the top and getting suspended?
“At this point, it’s tough to say what a suspension is. I never would have thought I was getting suspended for either of those things. So, if I had known where the line is, then it would be different. There’s been a lot of guys who get punched over the years and no one gets suspended, especially if there’s no injury. There’s a lot of sticks around people’s heads. I barely touched him with it.
“Was it stupid? Yeah, of course it was stupid. I’m not denying that. I absolutely should not have done it. But suspension-worthy? I don’t think so. If I had thought in the moment I was going to get suspended, yeah, I wouldn’t have done it, especially if I thought I was going to get six games. That’s the part that gets tough sometimes, is to know where the line is when it changes for each player and for each night.”
What will you do in this time before you return?
“Obviously try to go back to the drawing board and get my head right again. I’ve done it for a while now. I know the player that I am in this league and for this team. The last thing I want to do is let my team down the way I did. I lost my cool, there’s no question about it. I’ve been pretty good about doing that for the last number of years. It was a really stupid decision on my behalf. It did hurt the team, and it will hurt the team moving forward. So it’s not something I want to do, whether we feel the suspension is just or not. I put myself in that situation and our team in that situation.
“So I just have to work on being better, and work on my game, and I have for a long time now. It’s not something that changes in a day or a week. It’s something you have to continually work on. Maybe I got a little complacent with where I was and wasn’t focusing on it as much. But I’m an emotional guy. I always have been, and it’ll never change. That part of me will never change. I don’t want it to change, because that’s what makes me the player I am. But again, it’s just making sure it’s reigned in.”
How do you feel about this being added to your history and your reputation?
“Yeah, I mean, what it does is it sets it up that if there’s another one, it’s gonna be 10 [games]. So that’s where it’ll hurt my game, I think, if I let it. Trying to make sure -- I know in the past, I was so timid going on the ice, making sure I didn’t do anything wrong. So that’s gonna be the battle that I’m gonna have moving forward, is trying to play a game that I’ve played for years within the lines at all times. Again, I play on emotion and always have. I’m gonna have to not do that. That’s the part that is always frustrating a little bit, that I have to try to reign in. But at the end of the day, I have to what’s gonna help this team, and that’s to play the way that I play. If I cross the line, then we’ll deal with it. But that’s obviously something that I don’t want to do again. It’s frustrating and it’s embarrassing to be in this situation again. But it is what it is.”
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