David Pastrnak entered Friday’s morning skate looking to find ways to help the Boston Bruins rebound from a loss but instead heard a report from Brad Marchand.
WEEI’s Rich Keefe claimed there were major issues in the Bruins’ dressing room. According to the radio host, Pastrnak became an issue in the room and requested he play on a line separate from Marchand, supposedly because of the captain’s public critiques of his play.
Marchand ripped Keefe and called the report false. Pastrnak stepped in for his media availability afterward with a grin on his face.
“He brought me in for a chat before practice. Honestly, I’ve been laughing for a little bit,” Pastrnak told reporters. “I thought he was making fun of me. Then he said it was actually true. I don’t make much of it. I know how I feel about Marchy and know we love each other. I have a huge amount of respect for him. We had a good laugh about it. It’s 100% false.
“Obviously, we haven’t been performing as we want and we haven’t been winning games. It’s just human nature for people to start looking for reasons and stuff. Everyone has the free will to take their opinion, but this one just wasn’t it, and it’s 100% false.”
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Marchand noted that he and Pastrnak are best friends on and off the ice. The Bruins captain also pointed out that they play on different lines for strategic reasons. Pastrnak refuted the idea of not wanting to play on the same line with another player.
“I’ve never said in my hockey career, ‘I don’t want to play with this guy,’ to the coaching staff or management. I would never do that. I love playing with Marchy. I’ve been playing with him for so long. I can’t imagine going to a coach, ‘I don’t want to play with this guy.'”
Pastrnak joked that there might have been something he wasn’t aware of and said that the laughter over the report continued at times during Friday’s practice.
Featured image via Peter Casey/Imagn Images
