The NHL has notified Bruins winger Brad Marchand that he will have a hearing Monday to determine if he will be fined or suspended for the five-minute major for clipping and game misconduct he was assessed in Boston's 4-3 loss to Vancouver on Saturday.
Marchand claims he was trying to protect himself from a potentially dangerous hit from Canucks defenseman Sami Salo when he went down low to upend Salo, who was injured on the play and is day-to-day. Bruins coach Claude Julien backed up Marchand's position following the game.
“I did go under him,” Marchand told the media Sunday. “But I felt the base contact was about his hip point. That’s usually a pretty legal hit from what I’ve seen in the past. I have no idea how the league feels about it. I guess we’ll see.”
Marchand has already been fined $2,500 this season, for a slew-foot on Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen in December, and received a two-game suspension for an elbow to the head of RJ Umberger last season, so his history could be a factor in determining any discipline.
The hearing will be conducted via telephone, meaning Marchand will not be suspended for more than five games.
Marchand claims he was trying to protect himself from a potentially dangerous hit from Canucks defenseman Sami Salo when he went down low to upend Salo, who was injured on the play and is day-to-day. Bruins coach Claude Julien backed up Marchand's position following the game.
“I did go under him,” Marchand told the media Sunday. “But I felt the base contact was about his hip point. That’s usually a pretty legal hit from what I’ve seen in the past. I have no idea how the league feels about it. I guess we’ll see.”
Marchand has already been fined $2,500 this season, for a slew-foot on Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen in December, and received a two-game suspension for an elbow to the head of RJ Umberger last season, so his history could be a factor in determining any discipline.
The hearing will be conducted via telephone, meaning Marchand will not be suspended for more than five games.
James Murphy
Bruins reporter, ESPNBoston.com- Covers Bruins for ESPNBoston.com
- Covered NHL for more than 10 years
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James Murphy
James Murphy has covered the Bruins and the NHL for the last nine seasons. In addition to being in his second season with ESPNBostoncom, Murphy has written for NHL.com, NESN.com, Insidehockey.com and Le Hockey Magazine. He also hosts the "Hockey Prime Time Show" heard every Saturday from 2-4 p.m. ET on "NHL Home Ice" XM 92 and Sirius 207 as well as hockeyprimetime.com. Ask a question in our next Bruins mailbag
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