NHL makes inexcusable mistake by not suspending Brad Marchand

Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand still hasn’t learned from his past mistakes, and the NHL made an inexcusable decision not to suspend him over his cheap shot on Scott Harrington.

Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice, shame on us. We were supposed to believe that Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand was done with the cheap shots, dirty hits, and immature on-ice behavior. And after the best regular season of his NHL career, in which he scored 36 goals and 100 points, we had good reason to believe Marchand.

After the Bruins were eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of last year’s postseason, Marchand admitted he had to change on-ice tactics and behavior.

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Here is what he said at the time, per NHL.com:

“It’s one thing when it’s bringing some heat down on myself, but when you start bringing some heat to the team and the organization and being a distraction, that’s when it hits you a little bit harder. So yeah, it’s tougher when you start to disappoint the team and everyone. That’s a bit of a wake-up call.”

For the most part, Marchand behaved himself throughout the regular season and in the opening round against the Toronto Maple Leafs. But in Wednesday’s Game 3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, Marchand returned to his bad ways again by throwing this dirty and cheap shot punch to Scott Harrington’s head.

Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reported earlier this morning that Marchand is unlikely to receive any “supplemental discipline” from the NHL regarding his actions.

And that is completely wrong and inexcusable on the NHL’s end. We’re talking about a repeat offender who delivered an unnecessary and disturbing punch to the head of a defenseless player. Marchand has no reason for that act.

As Scott Wheeler of The Athletic points out, Marchand has quite the suspension history and he cleverly noted that it’s hard to give the 30-year-old the benefit of the doubt.

Marchand has been suspended six times since 2011:
1. Elbow (2 games)
2. Clipping (5 games)
3. Slewfooting (2 games)
4. Clipping (3 games)
5. Spearing (2 games)
6. Elbowing (5 games)

He has also been fined for roughing, tripping and slewfooting. He’s owed no benefit of the doubt.
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) May 1, 2019

Marchand showed that after a year of good behavior, he still can’t escape his immature and dirty style of play. And when the league doesn’t discipline him for acts like this, it sets a bad example. Marchand knows he can keep dishing out the cheap shots without any consequences.

It’s fair to think if this was a regular season game, Marchand would have faced a fine and/or suspension. Perhaps the NHL just doesn’t want to punish one of its star players during playoff time. That still doesn’t give him the right to punch a defenseless player in the back of the head.

And so, the NHL will let Marchand continue to take part in the remainder of Boston’s postseason games while showing completely disregard (again) for the safety of its players.

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Given his long track record of suspensions and fines, the NHL had an easy decision to suspend him for at least one game. But for some reason, they keep on giving Marchand a free pass – even though he’s shown he will not stop being a dirty player.

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