How ‘Licking Incident’ Led To Bruins’ Brad Marchand Changing His Game

Boston Bruins fans came to love Brad Marchand as the “Little Ball of Hate.”

The winger was a scrappy player, who wasn’t afraid to get his nose dirty, agitate opposing players, kill penalties and show a little offensive flare in the process. But over the years, Marchand has developed into one of the most elite offensive players in the league, and the 30-year-old really came into his own in the 2018-19 season.

Marchand became the first Bruins player to notch 100 points since Joe Thornton in 2002-03. And a big reason for that increased production is that the “Little Ball of Hate” kept his nose clean. Marchand, who had been disciplined by the NHL Department of Player Safety more than any other active player, was not fined or suspended once this season.

Staying out of trouble clearly was one of the biggest goals of the season for Marchand, as he stated to NBC Sports Boston’s Joe Haggerty. And it all stems back to last season’s playoffs, when the winger made headlines for notoriously licking opposing players in scrums.

“(Last spring) was definitely part of it. That kind of blew up to be bigger than I expected. The biggest thing was (my) kind of not understanding the implications of some of the things that were going on. It was my biggest downfall is not really looking ahead to see the future impact of things I was doing,” Marchand said. “I haven’t always agreed with my suspensions and how things have always played out, so I’m not going to say that was everything. But (the licking incident and its backlash) was one of those things where the group was taking some heat and it was bad timing. That probably sparked (the change) more than anything else.”

Marchand said following last season’s second round loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning that the last thing he wanted to do was to be an embarrassment to his team and teammates, and it’s pretty evident he took major steps this season to make sure he followed through on that promise.

“It was probably my biggest goal at the beginning of the year. Everybody has different goals, but that was my biggest one: Managing my emotions,” Marchand said. “There were a couple of times where I was definitely close to stepping into that area where bad things can happen. It felt good to kind of reel it back in and not let anything bad happen. I got through it so far, but there’s time left (in the playoffs). I need to keep controlling it for the next little while and then we move on to next year.”

It’s pretty amazing how far along Marchand has come in his development, not only as a potent goal scorer, but as a mature presence in the locker room. The Bruins likely will need both from Marchand as they gear up for a playoff run.

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