Marchand Addresses Six-Game Suspension

BOSTON - Brad Marchand addressed the media on Friday afternoon to discuss the six-game suspension he received for roughing and high-sticking on Pittsburgh goalie Tristan Jarry on Tuesday night at TD Garden. Marchand said that while he acknowledges his actions were "stupid," he does not believe that the incident was "suspension-worthy."
During a scrum in the closing seconds of the B's loss to the Penguins, Marchand delivered a jab to the head of Jarry and later poked the netminder in the helmet with his stick as he was being escorted away from the Pittsburgh net by one of the on-ice officials.

"It was a situation that arose, and I reacted very poorly. It really doesn't matter what started it. In that situation, I obviously have to be much better controlling my emotions and not reacting that way," said Marchand. "Yeah, was it stupid? 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.
"That's where in the moment, if I would've thought I'd get suspended, I wouldn't have done it, especially if I thought I was gonna get six games. That's part of it that gets tough sometimes, to know where the line is when it changes for each player and each night."
On Friday afternoon, the NHLPA announced that it has filed an appeal on Marchand's behalf, an action that the winger hinted at as a possibility during his meeting with reporters following the Bruins' morning practice at Warrior Ice Arena. Marchand added that he believes the proccess a player goes through when offered a hearing or assessed a suspension needs to change "and be looked at in the next CBA."
"At this point, it's tough to say what a suspension is," said Marchand, who was also banned three games earlier this season for slew-footing Vancouver's Oliver Ekman-Larsson. "I never would've thought that I was getting suspended for either of those things. If I would know where the line is, it would be different. But there's been a lot of guys get punched over the years that don't get suspended after the play, especially if there's no injury. There's a lot of sticks around people's head. Again, barely touched him with it."
While Marchand clearly disagreed with the punishment handed down by the NHL's Department of Player Safety on Wednesday evening, the B's alternate captain and leading scorer said it was "frustrating and embarrassing to be in this situation again" and lamented the position he has put his teammates in.
"I know the player I am in this league and for this team," said Marchand. "The last thing I want to do is let my team down the way I did in this situation. 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, and it did hurt the team and it will hurt the team moving forward. That's not something that I wanted to do.
"Whether we feel the suspension is just or not, I put myself in that situation and the team in that situation. I've got to continue to work on being better and work on my game. I have for a long time now. It's not something that changes in a day or a week or a month. It's something that you've got to continue to work on."

Marchand has for the last several years made it a priority to shore up his game and keep his focus on being one of the league's best wingers - an effort that had been an obvious success as he morphed into a legitimate Hart Trophy candidate and a player that perennially finished among the league's leading scorers. But after nearly four years without a suspension, Marchand has now been banished twice - nine games in total - this season.
"Maybe I got a little complacent with where I was and wasn't focusing on it as much," said Marchand, who has been suspended eight times in his NHL career. "I'm an emotional guy. Always have been, that won't change. That part of me will never change. I'd never want it to change because it's what makes me the player that I am. But again, it's just making sure it's reined in."
After being assessed two suspensions this season, Marchand said, he has come to realize that his threshold for supplemental discipline is far lower than other players.
"They don't measure progress, which I've come to find out," said Marchand. "It goes back to the last [suspension]. That's where I really found it out. We believe that the last suspension was very hefty when I got three games - should've been one. Based on the fact that I've turned my game around, pretty good player in this league. But again, 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.
"These plays were not going to injure Jarry. There was gonna be no potential injury on that play. He was very well protected. The fact that it's six games - again, it's based on history, not on the play. That's where, again, they make decisions based on the way they see it. We feel it was very steep."
Marchand admitted that in the past he has altered his game coming out of suspensions in an effort to avoid any further incidents that could get him into hot water. At the same time, he said, playing with an edge and an elevated intensity is what has helped turn him into one of the NHL's best players. Finding a balance between the two, once again, will be a challenge.
"That's where it will hurt my game, I think, potentially, if I let it," said Marchand. "I know it did in the past where I was so timid going on the ice and making sure I didn't do anything wrong. That's gonna be the battle 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, always have. I'm gonna have to not do that. That's the part that's always frustrating a little bit that I've got to try to rein in. But at the end of the day, I've got to do what is gonna help this team and that's play the way that I play. If I cross the line, we'll deal with it. That's obviously something that I don't want to do again."