BOSTON — Mark Recchi knew what he was doing.
He willingly put himself in the crosshairs of the media and fans, not only from Montreal but around the hockey world. He put his reputation at stake, then put his body on the line knowing the Canadiens would come calling for payback.
And he did it by saying something he didn't actually believe in order to do something he truly did believe in.
After the Bruins thoroughly dominated Montreal 7-0 at the Garden on Thursday, Recchi came clean about the comments he had made the day before. Recchi had accused the Canadiens of embellishing the extent of Max Pacioretty's injuries after he was hit into the stanchion between the benches by Zdeno Chara when the clubs last meet in Montreal on March 8.
According to the team, Pacioretty suffered a severe concussion and a fractured vertebra, but the quick progress of his recovery from such serious injuries raised some eyebrows. Recchi voiced those suspicions on an appearance on The Sports Hub on Wednesday, creating a firestorm of criticism.
After Thursday's win, he admitted why he made those statements. It wasn't a matter of questioning Pacioretty's character, but rather an attempt to help ease the pressure on Chara.
"I've got to be honest with you guys, I wanted to take the heat off of Zee for a day," Recchi said. "I'm a big boy and I think anybody that knows me knows that I have great respect for the Montreal organization. I played five years there. I have great respect for [Canadiens team physician] Dr. [David] Mulder and the medical staff there. I took the pressure off of Zee. In 22 years I've respected all my teammates, all the players I've played against. My record's shown that."
But that record now has a very black mark attached to it. One that will be hard to look past for many fans despite Recchi's otherwise spotless Hall-of-Fame resume.
"I did what I had to do," Recchi said. "Zee has taken a lot of heat, and I felt it was very important to get some focus elsewhere. I'm sorry if it hurt some people, but at the same time I think everybody knows my reputation for 22 years. … I felt the need to protect our captain. It's important. That will be the end of it and you won't hear anything said by me anymore.
"After 22 years, why would it be over one little statement?" Recchi added when asked if he thought the ruse would hurt his reputation. "Why would it be soiled with a 22-year track record. I had five great years there. If that's what they think, you know what, then I can't do it. I took pressure off my captain for one day. He deserved it and he earned it. And everyone that knows me as a person and as a player knows that I have the greatest and utmost respect for the game of hockey and the organizations that I've played for, Montreal being one of them."
Chara certainly appreciated the gesture.
"I don't know exactly all the comments," Chara said. "But he's such a great teammate and such a respected guy and leader. It’s a thrill to have him [on the team]. We all learned so much from him. He's obviously the next Hall-of-Famer and such a classy guy. Like I said, I can't thank him enough to be my teammate and be part of this team, and helping all of us to be better."
Recchi was targeted by several Canadiens with some questionable hits and rough play, most notably a battle in front of the net with defenseman Paul Mara. Recchi received a cross-checking minor and Mara four minutes for roughing in that exchange, and Greg Campbell later dropped the gloves with Mara to stick up for Recchi.
"I wasn't aware of that, but he's been around enough I'm sure he's handled a lot of things like this," Campbell said of Recchi's comments. "If that's what he did, I'm sure there was a purpose for it. He's well respected in this room."
Defenseman Dennis Seidenberg agreed. "It just shows he's a team guy, like everybody in this room," Seidenberg said. "He puts pressure on himself to take the pressure off Zee, so that's the kind of guy he is."
There will be plenty around the hockey world outraged to hear of Recchi's ruse. Questioning the severity of another player's injury is a tough thing to justify. But Recchi isn't worried about what anyone outside of the Bruins' locker room thinks, and that us-against-the-world attitude might be just what this team needs to finally take that next step toward sustained playoff success.
"Everybody's got each other's back in here and we know that," Recchi said. "There's no doubt in this room that anyone in here would do anything for any one of these players in this dressing room. That's why we're in first place in our division and why we had a good game today. We believe in each other. We trust each other and we have each other's backs."
