Brad Marchand’s “leading foot” controversy turns into more in-depth discussion of hockey culture

Stop if you’ve heard this one before: Brad Marchand receives a call from the league office.

The Bruins superstar winger is obviously not as much of a troublemaker as he used to be, mainly because he’s an offensive force and doesn’t need to resort to rat tactics like he did at the start of the season. his career. But he certainly gave himself a week during Thanksgiving week. In case you missed him, he tricked Rangers’ Artemi Panarin to throw a glove at him, which fined the Rangers winger $ 5,000.

Now it is Marchand who is in trouble. Safety of NHL players announcement On Monday, Marchand will have a hearing for what they called a kick against the Canucks’ Oliver Ekman-Larsson in Boston’s win on Sunday night.

Here is the part in question:

You can see here – especially if you watch the clip over and over, frame by frame – that Marchand maybe gave Ekman-Larsson a little extra with his right skate at the end of the shot. But Marchand may have an alibi. It’s clear that when he engages with Ekman-Larsson, his intention is to ram him shoulder to shoulder and hit him on the ass. this manner.

If you consider this to be an orientation foot, you have to at least admit that it is not your ordinary orientation foot. It’s shoulder-to-shoulder contact in a battle for a free puck, and maybe a little extracurricular with the feet. As a general rule, a steerer foot is almost completely in contact with the leg and the skate. PK Subban is the undisputed champion of “slew-footing”:

Maybe Marchand will be fined for the part, but that should be about it. Understandably, because of Marchand’s well-deserved reputation in the league, people are asking for suspensions for multiple games. As is tradition.

And apparently Marchand’s hatred spread to real diffusers. TNT Analyst (and former Bruin) Anson Carter underline that one of the Canucks’ own analysts (it’s unclear who he was) said out loud during the game that he hated Marchand. Carter used this as an example to explain why the players “don’t want to play in Canada”. Apparently it gets “personal” up there. This is certainly the case in large Canadian markets like Toronto. The sports media out there is as brutal as you can imagine, and in Boston you can certainly imagine a lot.

Marchand was asked about the Canucks broadcaster’s comment and had a refreshing and nuanced take on the matter.

“They’re very, very passionate about the game,” said Marchand, presumably speaking of Canadians in general. “You know, hockey is a way of life in Canada. It’s just like that. As soon as you can walk you put on skates and the lakes are always frozen in Canada so there is always ice available and ponds and stuff like that. So it’s a way of life. There are a lot of fans who are passionate about their teams, and I think that is reflected in a way.

“I mean, there are a lot of cases where teams don’t do well in Canada, it’s tough on the players. Their families are harassed, their children are harassed at school. So you know the fans can be a big part of the reasons why teams aren’t successful because sometimes they make it miserable for the players. And they definitely push guys away to go to teams that don’t have that kind of fan base. So sometimes fans have to look at themselves in the mirror as well. “

True fans certainly get angry sometimes. It’s part of being passionate and emotional about your team. But of course, sometimes people can go too far. And we know well around here how it is, with the two fans and media, and it is documented that the athletes wanted to come out after experiencing the full Boston experience (see Crawford, Carl).

But I digress. This story started with a so-called kick and it became quite a discussion of how players are covered and followed in the culture of their respective sports. No wonder Marchand is a lightning rod for this kind of discussion.

In the end, that’s a bigger topic than whether he’ll be fined for a borderline hit on a guy who hasn’t been injured.

MORE: Brad Marchand Shows He Can Do Anything For The Bruins

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Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group or any affiliate. Do you have a tip, question or comment for Matt? Yelling at him on Twitter @mattdolloff and follow him on Instagram @mattydsays. You can also email him at [email protected]