'I don't care what my reputation is'
Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand, who has been suspended five games for his low hit on Vancouver Canucks defenceman Sami Salo on Saturday, has shared his feelings about the Canucks-Bruins game and its headline-grabbing aftermath.
In an as-told-to blog on ESPN, which you can read in its entirety here, Marchand gives his take on the hit, Canucks coach Alain Vigneault's negative assessment of him, and why he should have never dressed for the Stanley Cup rematch, which the Canucks won. Here are the highlights of Marchand's blog….
Pre-game: "I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to play in the Vancouver game because I had the flu. Going back on it, maybe I should have sat that game out. Having the flu was pretty painful. I had it for two to three days. I didn't sleep. I couldn't eat or drink anything. It was pretty uncomfortable. I had to miss the 9-0 win against Calgary…. The game against Vancouver, though, was one of those games you wanted to be a part of. The rivalry there has kind of brewed up since being in the finals with them last year. I definitely wanted to be a part of that game. The atmosphere on Saturday was very playoff-like. Fans were very excited. They were up on their feet the whole time. Everyone was really into the game. Both teams were highly energized and flying. It was a good game that we battled in."
Sami Salo: "OK, the play with Sami Salo. It technically wasn't a clip. Clipping is when you hit someone at the knees and I did not hit him at the knees. Anyone that has seen the video will see that I hit him in the upper thigh under the buttocks. They can call it a clipping, but they obviously don't know the rules of hockey. I felt like I was trying to protect myself and get low and he went over me. It was very unfortunate that he was injured on the play. I know he has a concussion."
The ensuing penalty: "I know in the five-minute power play that Vancouver got for my penalty they scored two goals. They obviously have a very dangerous power play. All four goals in that game were scored on the power play. It shows they have a lot of skill. But it was very tough for me to watch. To take a penalty like that and cost your team the game, it was a tough thing."
Refs are watching: "I've spoken before about keeping my emotions in check because the refs are keeping their eye on me. This game wasn't any tougher to do that. I thought I played a pretty disciplined game for the most part. I tried to stay away from any of the extra curricular stuff and for the most part I did. Before I got ejected, I wasn't really involved in much. I just wanted to play the game and try to help the team on the score sheet. For the most part, I felt I did a decent job of that."
Vigneault: "Their coach [Alain Vigneault] came out and said I play to hurt players. He obviously wanted to take a shot at me and stir the pot for the hearing [Monday]. It just shows the class he has or lack thereof. I really am not going to respond or bite into what he's trying to feed me there. I hear Twitter was filled with comments about me today. For anyone that wants to call me someone who takes cheap shots, they can say what they want. It doesn't affect me. I don't care what people who don't know me and I don't know them and they have no meaning to me, I don't care what they say. I don't really care what my reputation is. I just want to play. I'm doing this as my job. I love this team. I'm just trying to be a player and I don't care what my reputation is really. I'm not out there to hurt guys. When I'm out there, I play a hard-nosed game and play hard. If guys are soft and don't like it, then that's fine. I'm not out there to please anybody. I'm out there to do my job."
Five games: "I'm not talking tonight about the suspension. It's always best to get a good night's sleep after you are handed bad news. If I'm able to speak about it, then I'll check back in [Tuesday] with some thoughts."
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