Brad "the rat" Marchand Gets 5 Game SuspensiAn!

So, in my last post, the rat was supposed to receive a phone call from NHL's Head of the Department of Player Safety, Brendan Shanahan on Monday.  Monday has now come and gone and so has the phone call.  Shanahan has deemed that the hit on Salo was not a defensive move but one that was "Predatory" as he had punched Salo in the back of the head 15 sec earlier and then deliberatly went to flip Salo out from under his feet.  Among other things, causing a concussion and taking into account that he is a repeat offender resulted in this decision. Just before the Canucks game vs Panthers started,  Shanny handed down a 5 game suspensiAn resulting in the rat forfeiting $152,439.02 of his salary that will go towards the NHL Player's Emergency Assistance Fund.

ESPN has actually assigned the rat with keeping a diary on their blog and the rat actually had something to say about this.  Nothing intelligent of course, but he did open his mouth.  He stayed away from commenting on the actual suspension but he did talk about the hit.  If your interested in reading it, follow this link.

The Rat's Diary on ESPN

He refers to the game against the Canucks played on Sunday.  It boggles the mind that he actually doesn't understand what kind of player he is and the reputation that he has.  He says that he knew people were talking about him on twitter but he didn't care about his reputation.  Well, if he was smart, he would care.  A player's reputation is all he has once he's done playing hockey.  It will define him as a person and the kind of player he was for the rest of his life.  He has now successfully taken over Matt Cooke's "Dirtiest Player in the NHL" title.  He is one hated man.  Especially in Vancouver.  He better watch his back next time he's in Vancity from the looks of how many times this has been re-tweeted.

The Bruins have also managed to successfully take over the "Most Hated Team in the League" title from the Canucks.  Never understood why we had it in the first place.  But this hit has angered not only the fan bases involved but fans from other cities.  Every NHL thread is rype with hostility towards the Bruins.  However, one tweeter did have enough of the bickering and tweeted this.

 

In the blog, he refers to the hit on Salo but still maintains that it was a defensive move and he thought Salo was out for him.  Well, maybe he shouldn't have punched Salo in the head repeatedly seconds earlier in a different play to be anticipating a retaliation hit.  This to me shows his guilt of being a dirty player and his acknowledgement of it. For him to deny it now, is just plain stupidity on his part.  Its important to note that although he acknowledges the hit, he still shows no remorse for it.  In his warped little mind, it was a clean hit even though Shanahan explains and shows in great detail on video that he takes Salo out by the knees.  The rat can argue all he wants, it was a DIRTY hit.

He then goes on to acknowledge that Salo had a concussion but in no way shape or form takes responsibility for it.  He instead tries to make it sound like its because the game is fast and the players are bigger and tougher that these types of injuries are unfortunate accidents. Not taking responsibility and making excuses for a concussion that was a direct result of your actions just makes you guilty and classless.

He then opens his mouth again and says "They can call it a clipping, but they obviously don’t know the rules of hockey."  Now this is just plain stupid.  Are you telling me that the head of the NHL Department of Player and Safety and former NHL player doesn't know the rules of hockey????? REALLY????  Shanny's been playing in this league long since before the rat was even born.....just proves that the rat still has a lot to learn about RESPECT.  I hope Shanny reads that in his blog and sets the rat straight.

He also had a comment about our Coach, AV.  He seems to be think that AV's comments were made to stir the pot and make sure he got a stiffer sentence before his phone call with Shanny.  All AV did was warn the kid that if he continued on this dangerous path of his, that one day someone will say enough is enough and make sure he gets a dose of his own medicine that won't end kindly for him.  AV has every right to say this and shouldn't receive any NHL disciplinary action for it, as one of his solid 1st line defencemen is out for god knows how many games with a concussion.  The rat doesn't seem to get is that he's a repeat offender and that doesn't earn the respect from the NHL, its players or its fans. So, no amount of what AV said would really have any bearing on his upcoming suspension phone call.  All the facts were in the video and the end result of it with Salo's concussion.

Last but not least, I just wanted to comment on his accusation of our team playing dirty when Thornton hurled himself at Burrows.  He called out our team saying that only one player from our team was able to "answer the bell" after the big line brawl.  Well, there's a reason for that.  Canucks don't play THUG HOCKEY.  Thats how the Bruins play.  The Canucks knew when to stop and calm down and it was just chance that we ended up on the Power Play.  Horton and Lucic were the ones who didn't know when to stop and got the extra 2 mins each for continuing to punch Burrows in the face after it was all done.  So, blame your teammates for being stupid.  The Canucks just played the right way and got the upper hand.  See, Canucks don't play THUG HOCKEY.  Thats how the BROONS do it and they got punished for it.  They came to TD Garden to play hockey.....something the Bruins still don't know how to do without violence.

Have fun on your 5 game suspensiAn. Since you have the time now, why don't you go tattoo that on your body!!  Loser.