Patrice Bergeron was named the lone Boston Bruins representative for the NHL's All-Star Game set for next month, leaving Brad Marchand as one of the many snubs.
But Marchand isn't thinking too much about being left out of next month's festivities, despite putting up consistent numbers yet again for the Bruins, because he knows Bergeron is the "backbone" of the team and certainly is deserving of the honor.
"I'm not bothered at all," Marchand said over Zoom on Friday. "It's a nice event to go to. ... Bergy's been our best player for 18 years now. He's the best two-way player in the league. He's the backbone to our team. I'm not surprised at all that he's there. He deserves to be. He's earned that right and I'm very happy for him. That's how it goes when the league format is the way that it is. There's guys that probably deserve to be there, could be there, you look at (Nazem) Kadri, he's third or fourth in the league in scoring. That's how it goes when they have the system the way it is when they need to incorporate every team."
While Marchand won't be heading to Las Vegas, Charlie McAvoy still could be named to the Eastern Conference roster.
NHL's All-Star weekend begins Feb. 5.