In the second period of last night’s Game Four between Boston and Tampa Bay, Bruins forward Brad Marchand licked the Lightning’s Ryan Callahan after a borderline hit. It sasn’t the first time the agitator had used his mouth against an opponent, and I’m not talking about trash talking.
Since Marchand’s incident with the Leafs’ Leo Komarov in the first round of the playoffs, the NHL has been indecisive on how best to stop him from licking opposing players.
However, Saturday the league has taken its first public action. The NHL’s Public Relations office tweeted today that the league has told Brad Marchand to stop licking people or Marchand will face supplemental discipline.
NHL’s Colin Campbell spoke with Boston’s Brad Marchand and GM Don Sweeney today. The League put the player on notice that his actions last night are unacceptable and similar behavior in the future will be dealt with by way of supplemental discipline.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 5, 2018
This comes after initial confusion at the end of the first round. Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman reported in his “31 Thoughts” that the NHL had told Marchand not to lick players, and, after blowback from Marchand himself, Greg Wyshinski from ESPN independently confirmed it. But NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly stated to USA TODAY that the NHL had not, in fact, reached out to the Bruins.
This time, it’s legit. It will be interesting to see what the NHL does if Marchand disobeys their orders between a hefty fine or a suspension.
Headline photo: Mike Ehrmann
