(Photo by Winslow Townson/USA Today Sports)
by Dakota Antelman
When Brad Marchand slew footed Derick Brassard during Thursday night's game between the Bruins and Rangers, there was little opposition to the general assumption that he would be suspended in the coming days.
So overtly illegal seemed the play, in fact, that the NHL Department of Player Safety went through a near ritualistic process Friday morning before swiftly punishing the Bruin forward with a two game suspension.
This suspension will have Marchand sitting out both Saturday's meeting with Columbus and next Tuesday's clash with the Dallas Stars. More so, it will cost him $48,387.10 in forfeited salary money which will be funneled into the Players Emergency Assistance Fund.
Such a punishment is almost benign. Marchand skates away from this incident largely unscathed as given the perceived severity of his hit on Brassard combined with his lengthy laundry list of supplementary discipline, it could have been understandable how and why a suspension of five or more games could have been in order.
As described in the Department of Player Safety's video Marchand initiated the contact with Brassard by apparently kicking out Brassard's legs. As Brassard fell to the ice, Marchand came down hard with a forearm thrust to Brassard's shoulder and chest. As Marchand stood upright in the corner, Brassard landed dangerously, with the entire weight of the check on his shoulders and neck and his body pinned almost vertically up against the corner-boards.
The possibility for severe injury was evident from the first replay of the hit. Brassard himself, understood that possibility best.
"The way I fell on the ice, I maybe could've missed the rest of the season if I hurt my knee there . . ." he said. "Marchand's a pretty good player, he's feisty, competes hard, but those kind of things, we don't want that in our game."
As much as Bruins fans love to celebrate the three time 20 goal scorer in Marchand, they have long sense come to terms with the near Matt Cooke circa 2010 hitman within him as well.
This suspension marks the third of his career and the fourth instance of supplementary discipline for Marchand after just five seasons in the league. Notably, he was booked back in 2010 for what was deemed a "clip" or dangerously low hit to the knees of Vancouver Chanuk, Sami Salo. Before that, Marchand was ordered to sit for five games after an elbow to the head penalty.
But perhaps the most glaring of these punishments is the one that was not actually a suspension. Before the Brassard hit on Thursday night, Marchand delivered a near identical slew foot against Pittsburgh Penguins pest Matt Cooke in 2011. He was fined $2,500 largely out of principle. That fine was a $2,500 slap on the wrist from the league that said "hey don't do that again."
But he did.
This time there was no coddling Marchand; from the Department of Player Safety or any of the other executives or even fans involved with the NHL. Two games is what he got, two games or even more were what he deserved.
And now, as Marchand spends the next two games watching from the press box, Bruins fans will have time to cast him a glance, in all his sedentary observational glory, and rethink their judgment of him.
Very simply, as hockey fans, we hate to see plays like the one that took place Thursday night. As Derick Brassard said, there is simply no place for that in our game. As Bruins fans, we especially like to call other teams out when they encroach upon that sacred no-mans-land of possible body contact into which none shall enter.
We still remember the rightful slandering of Matt Cooke's name after Mark Savard's career ended on his elbow. But what would we say if Marchand blew out Brassard's knee and ended his career like Cooke did Savard? Marchand would deserve the same kind of ridicule.
Which begs the question: is Marchand a dirty, cheap shooting player like Matt Cooke? Sadly, the answer could be yes.
Now this is not to undermine the great things that Marchand has done as a Bruin. He is an immensely talented scorer with arguably much more talent than any of the thugs mentioned above. But much like the kid in high school with "all that potential", Marchand keeps making immature decisions on the ice and as a result is well on his way towards having an assigned seat in the principal’s office.
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