You Know What I Hate?! – Jan 10

Brad Marchand is angry. Not here… Here, he’s clearly a stupid, drunken mess.
But he’s angry today. And so am I. But I’m guessing we’re not angry about the same things.
Photo courtesy theweeklydick

This week’s edition is the Brad Marchand Special Edition and luckily he’s giving folks plenty of material to use to hate him.

You know what I hate?! Brad Marchand’s cheap, dirty low-bridge hit on Sami Salo. As Alain Vigneault said, that’s the kind of hit that can end careers. His suspension is well deserved. His adamant, unrelenting defence of his actions has become comical now.

You know what I hate?! Anyone who defended that hit, which is pretty much limited to Bruins fans and media. Even FORMER Bruins (Aaron Ward spoke on the TEAM1040 yesterday) think that was a dirty, unnecessary hit. In fact, I haven’t yet found a single person not associated with the Bruins in some direct way that has defended that play. That tells you all you need to know.

You know what I hate?! Brad Marchand’s ESPN Boston blog entry from yesterday. Is he kidding!? No, seriously… Is he kidding? Is this some kind of ironic performance art? Did he really say that "they don’t know hockey" when discussing his suspension!? If I’m Brendan Shanahan and I just read that blog, all I can think to myself is, "Oh now it’s ON, dummy!". What on Earth did Marchand think he was accomplishing by insulting the NHL and its ruling? He’s a repeat offender and has now spoken up AGAINST the league’s disciplinarian. He’s going to have the book handed to him at his next hearing.

You know what I hate?! Canucks fans/media who are decrying what Peter Chiarelli and Claude Julien about the Canucks. I’m not talking about either of them defending Marchand’s hit, because that’s clearly ridiculous. I’m talking about the banter going back and forth between each team about the other. Stop complaining that they are hypocrites and that they’re whining. The Canucks are of course the whiniest, most hypocritical team in the league, so don’t bother going down that road. And if Gillis and Vigneault were speaking about a hit that Alex Burrows, you’d have no problem if Gillis said that Chiarelli was lobbying to get a further suspension. Oh wait… Didn’t that already happen? Horton and his SEVERE concussion? Yeah. Stop complaining, Canucks fans. We’ve already been down that road. Every team lobbies. Every team’s manager and coach cries foul when a suspendable  incident happens. This is all just white noise and fodder for the press. And don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate the fact that both sides are chirping at each other and about each other. I find it highly entertaining. What I hate is that there is a good chunk of Canucks fans that are bitching and complaining about the Bruins’ statement. Just shut up about it. Your team is doing it too. Just read it and enjoy.

You know what I hate?! Brad Marchand isn’t going to change a goddamn thing. He isn’t going to learn a lesson here. He isn’t going to avoid clipping someone again. In fact, he’ll do it again this season. He think the NHL doesn’t know the rules. And unfortunately, Brad Marchand is going to keep on keeping on. Dirty rats are never kicked out of the league. Ken Linesman, Claude Lemieux, Jaarko Ruutu, Matt Cooke… They all had long careers and continue to do so, all while ending a few along the way. You can officially add Brad Marchand to that list now.