Boston’s Brad Marchand was sent to the box for a high-sticking penalty late in the opening period of Saturday night’s game against the Nashville Predators. His response to the call got him another twelve minutes in penalties.
Marchand objected to the high-sticking call, which he felt was embellished by Nashville’s Colton Sissons. Protesting the penalty, Marchand also offered a visual demonstration of the embellishment, grabbing his helmet with both hands.
Referee Marc Joannette, who made the initial call, was not fan of Marchand’s theatrics. The veteran official hit Marchand with a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct along with a ten-minute misconduct.
“[Referee Marc Joannette] bit on the embellishment,” said Marchand after the game. “That’s a tough time to call [a penalty] with less than a second left in the period in a game like that, so yeah, it’s frustrating.”
Replays appeared to show Marchand’s stick never made contact with Sissons. Despite this, it was Marchand’s response that compounded the issue, keeping him off the ice for over half the second period.
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy spoke about the penalties after the game.
“I don’t know [if it was a reputation call]. The league is trying to get certain things out of the game and embellishment is one they should look at.”
“We have a player that gets nailed for a penalty he didn’t commit and all of a sudden he’s out 14 minutes. Part of that is out out player to make sure he has better discipline. I think part of it is on the official to work with the player and that was where I was disappointed. You have a conversation.”
“Brad Marchand has been in the league 10 years, he’s won a Stanley Cup. He’s had his run ins with the law. The ten-minute misconduct I thought was out of line. I thought [the referee] could have talked to him, and said ‘Hey, I heard your piece, now move along.'”
“There’s ways to diffuse those situations. For officials that have been in the league a long time, they should be able to handle that without having to go that route. But he did and we have to live with it.”
The Bruins lost the game 1-0.
