Brad Marchand understands that Brandon Prust was frustrated. He gets why Prust did what he did Saturday in Vancouver. It happens sometimes. Hockey is an emotional game.
“If you’re down by a few goals, or you’re having a bad game, somebody takes a shot at you, someone says the wrong thing, guys get upset and they take shots at guys,” Marchand told reporters today.
“I think it’s just human nature. There’s a lot of good players that take jabs at guys. People can say whatever they want. I’m not overly upset about what happened. It’s part of the game. I’ve done it, and I’m sure he’s done it before. I’m sure it won’t be the last, and it won’t be the last time I do it.
“It is what it is. It’s part of hockey.”
Marchand is obviously aware that a former teammate of his, Milan Lucic, was fined just last year for doing exactly what Prust was fined for doing. He’s also well aware of his own reputation. He’s no angel and he doesn’t pretend to be.
If anything, what bothered Marchand was the notion that Prust was a player that followed The Code.
“I thought that he played with a lot more class in his game,” said Marchand. “Clearly he doesn’t have that integrity that a lot of people thought he had.”
Yesterday, Prust joked that the $5,000 he was fined for spearing Marchand was the “best money I ever spent.”
About that, Marchand said:
“Brandon’s got lots of money. I know he’s not worried about his five grand. If he wants to act cool about it, that’s fine. I’m not concerned about how he feels.”
Oh, and Marchand denied that he was faking:
“I think if anyone has ever been hit in the fun spot, they know that it doesn’t feel good.”