Bruins’ Brad Marchand Blasts Radio Host For David Pastrnak Report

Bruins captain Brad Marchand considers David Pastrnak his best friend, and he wasn’t going to let a report claiming the opposite go by without responding.

Marchand delivered a fiery response Friday to a report from WEEI’s Rich Keefe, who claimed there were major issues in the Bruins’ dressing room.

According to Keefe, Pastrnak became an issue in the room and requested he play on a line separate from Marchand, supposedly because of the captain’s critiques of his play.

Given a chance to respond Friday after practice in Florida, Marchand unloaded on the report.

“I’ve heard what was said in the media this morning. It’s unfortunate,” Marchand said. “I know reporters have a job to do and that job is to report on the team. Usually, you try to be fact-based. But when there’s just blatant lies told in the media, that’s where there’s a problem. The fact this guy has a platform and is just making this up is embarrassing. There’s zero truth to anything he said. This is how you lose a job very quickly. The fact that he’s gonna have a job after this is insane.

“Because Pasta and I are best friends. We’ve been incredibly close for a long time, and the only reason we don’t play together is to spread the depth through the lineup. There’s zero truth to him being a problem in the room. He’s one of the most loved guys in the room. There’s zero issues in the room at all and to say he’s at the center of anything is a completely fabricated lie. This guy has zero merit to anything he’s saying.”

The timing of everything is notable. The Bruins have lost six straight games, and frustration is clearly setting in. Marchand acknowledged that these sorts of things do tend to creep up when things aren’t going well.

“It’s very frustrating because this is what happens — we have not pulled our weight this year,” Marchand continued. “We have not had the season we want to have. But I’m not gonna let some random guy come in the media and spit absolute nonsense. From this point forward, this guy has zero credibility.

The fact he’s coming out with this is ridiculous and embarrassing. Anything he puts forth in the future is not going to be deemed as truth because he’s completely making all of this up. … If he would have fact-checked, he would have found out it’s all nonsense. There’s zero truth to this. It’s ridiculous. … I’m not gonna let it become something it’s not. This guy can go pound sand and go back to the closet where no one knew he was before and report on nothing because that’s what he’s going to be doing after this.”

Marchand also said he and Pastrnak shared a laugh about the report, saying he and the winger have a “phenomenal relationship.” The Bruins themselves also had some fun with the report.