Brad Marchand might have avoided supplemental discipline, but he got a few folks’ attention Tuesday.
At the end of the Boston Bruins’ 2-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup playoffs second round, Marchand gave a jab to the back of Columbus defenseman Scott Harrington’s head.
Harrington downplayed the situation, and Marchand admitted it wasn’t a necessary move. The Blue Jackets don’t openly plan to retaliate, but we’ll see if that’s true or just a smokescreen.
But the fact remains the Marchand long has pushed the limits when he plays with edge. And during his media availability Wednesday, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy shared his thoughts on the Marchand-Harrington incident, as well as how he approaches coaching Marchand in these situations.
“I don’t — there’s really nothing for me to say there. There’s nothing going on with that particular play,” Cassidy said. “Marchy, my concern is — I talked to (a reporter) a couple days ago — (he had) zero penalty minutes, well it’s now at four. So now we’ve got to talk to him about staying out of the box on altercations, whatever you want to call them. You’re going to take penalties through the course of a game if you’re competing, Marchy will do that on pucks. Those ones that are sort of, call them away from the play, maybe, we’ve got to talk to him about those. We need him on the ice. And the way the series has gone every power play has been crucial, both ways. So we’ve got to make sure that he plays hard between the whistles, and that will be the message to him.”
Added Cassidy: “Well generally it’s he’s getting on the line with the penalties because he’s getting whistled for them. So we’ve got to keep him on the right side of the line, that’s how I deal with it as a coach. Remind him how valuable he is to the team, that it’s playoff hockey, that your name or number is circled in their locker room (and they’re saying) ‘We’ve got to get him off of his game.’ What does that mean? It means you’re one of the better players. If you weren’t a good player they wouldn’t be targeting you. So you got to understand that there’s a little bit that goes along with it, and he’s got to find that balance on the ice. And we’ve been dealing with this for a long time, so this isn’t an easy — this isn’t me just going up (and saying) ‘hey Marchy, knock it off’ it doesn’t work that way.”
Cassidy also noted that if Marchand and the Bruins’ top line starts scoring, some of that itch to agitate might naturally diminish a bit.
Regardless of what happens, the Bruins certainly need Marchand, who is as important on special teams as he is 5-on-5. So Cassidy certainly must be hoping his message gets through to the winger.
