BOSTON — Brad Marchand has heard the things the Vancouver Canucks have had to say about him and his team over the last few days, and on Tuesday he was ready to fire back.
When asked about Vancouver defenseman Kevin Bieksa's contention that the Bruins "play stupid hockey," Marchand offered a quick and cutting rebuttal.
"Yeah, we play stupid," Marchand said. "I guess smart enough to win a Cup."
Marchand also didn't have much time for Canucks coach Alain Vigneault's comments threatening that "someday [Marchand]'s going to get it."
"Yeah, they are threatening," Marchand said. "It sounds like they are a threat, but whatever."
Marchand, who was given a five-game suspension for his hit on Vancouver's Sami Salo, went into a little more depth when it came to the comments directed toward his teammates. Marchand doesn't agree with contentions that the Bruins are a dirty team, but also let it be known that regardless of what others think of the Bruins, they aren't about to alter their physical approach to the game.
"We play a hard game," Marchand said. "We have a lot of physical guys, a lot of tough guys on our team. It's tough for other teams to play against and some teams may not like it, but that's our style of hockey, and we're not going to change just because other people don't like it."
Marchand did have some support from at least one other locker room in defending the Bruins. Winnipeg defenseman Mark Stuart, who spent parts of his first six seasons in the NHL with Boston, defended his old club while in town with the Jets to play against the Bruins on Tuesday night.
"I don't think they're dirty," Stuart said. "Everybody plays hard. Everybody plays their own way. There's guys on every team that guys say are dirty, but I don't think it's one team more than another. I don't really think there's anything to that."
Marchand took it a step further, turning the accusations around on the Canucks, who have dispensed more than their fair share of stickwork and questionable hits. There was also the matter of the massive scrum early in Saturday's game which at one point featured at least a half dozen Canucks piling on Bruins forward Shawn Thornton.
"They had six guys jump Thorty," Marchand said. "And no one wanted to do anything after they all got pulled off, so it just shows their character."
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