Bruce Cassidy doesn’t plan on giving Brad Marchand a tongue-lashing for licking Leo Komarov’s face in Game 1 of the Boston Bruins’ first-round playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In fact, the Bruins coach finds the whole thing kind of amusing.
Cassidy was asked Friday morning on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher and Rich” about a report that surfaced Thursday stating the NHL reached out to the Bruins regarding Marchand’s antics. And not only did Cassidy downplay the seriousness of the report while revealing he hasn’t heard from the league, but Boston’s bench boss also cracked a couple of jokes of his own.
“I bought him some Mentos and told him to have at it, so what the heck? It’s a good storyline,” Cassidy said with a chuckle. “They have Marshy’s hotline. I’m sure if they want to give him a message, they can give him one.”
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report Thursday that the NHL contacted the Bruins to ask that Marchand not lick any more opponents moving forward. A league spokesperson later confirmed the report to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, who said the message was communicated to Marchand through the series’ supervisor of officials, Mick McGeough. The Bruins winger denied the rumors Friday on Twitter by replying to two stories published on the topic.
Whatever the case, we can’t help but wonder what the punishment would be if the NHL told Marchand to knock off the hijinks and he continued to push the envelope. Cassidy also has no idea.
“I don’t know. You got me there. I really don’t know,” Cassidy said. “You know Marshy’s always got something up his sleeve, so I’m sure he’ll have a good comeback for this if the league has reached out to him. But hopefully he doesn’t get himself in any trouble. I told you this before, if this is the worst he does, we’re all happy here, right?
“I thought it was funny,” he added. “It gave the league some publicity, so I’m not sure what they’re all worked up about. The other guy didn’t seem to be that worked up about it, their player.”
So, does Marchand practice his licks ahead of time?
“Well, he likes Bergy a lot,” Cassidy joked of Marchand’s friendship with Bruins linemate Patrice Bergeron. “We could ask Bergy.”
