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Brad Marchand said the quiet part out loud Thursday.
When asked his thoughts on the physicality the 2024 playoffs have seen, Marchand opened up about how vicious this time of year can be.
“People don’t want to say it, but part of the playoffs is trying to hurt every player on the other team,” he said, elaborating on the punch Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett laid on him in Game 3.”And the more guys you take out, the more advantage your team has.
“People don’t say that, but that’s just a fact of the game. So every time you step on the ice, someone is trying to hurt someone and that’s just how it goes in the playoffs. That’s part of the benefit of having a physical group. That’s why you see teams go the distance with a big D-core and physical teams. And it’s why you rarely see teams that are small and skilled go far, because they get hurt.”
Marchand has been the subject of more than a few questionable hits and incidents over the years, but he received a sneaky punch Bennett laid on him. It happened when Marchand went to lay a hit on him, and Bennett absorbed the contact while laying a right hook to the Bruins veteran.
It sent him to the ice, and caused him to miss Games 4 and 5 of the series.
“He plays hard, he’s an extremely physical player,” Marchand said. “I think he got away with this shot, but I’m not going to complain. It happens”.
The Panthers have pushed Boston to the brink of elimination, but the B’s staved off elimination with a big 2-1 win in Game 5.
Game 6 of the series is set for Saturday night.
“I think he got away with one.”
Brad Marchand weighs in on Sam Bennett’s punch and whether he thought it was a cheap shot: pic.twitter.com/XYFG4r8mTF
— WEEI (@WEEI) May 16, 2024
Warriors win first WHL Championship
The Moose Jaw Warriors have hoisted the Ed Chenoyweth Cup for the first time, sweeping the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL finals.
They completed the four-game sweep Wednesday night, pulling away with a two-goal third period to win thanks to a game-winning goal from Brayden Schuurman and an insurance marker from Martin Rysavy.
The Warriors were pushed through the finals by a group of four players, including Jagger Firkus, whose 14 goals and 32 points in 20 games led all players in the playoffs, Denton Mateychuk (11-19—20), Brayden Yager (11-16—27), and Matthew Savoie (10-14—24).
Firkus, who was drafted 35th overall by the NHL’s Seattle Kraken in the 2022 draft, was named the WHL’s Player of the Year.
“It means a lot that we finished the job this year,” Firkus said via the Warriors website. “How happy I am, how happy I am for the city of Moose Jaw, how happy I am for the guys. I mean, we’ve grown up together. A lot of us have been together since we were 15 years old. It just means the world to all of us and especially the city of Moose Jaw.”
Moose Jaw wasn’t the only Major Junior team to complete a sweep in the finals this year, as for the first time ever, the OHL and QMJHL finals also finished in four games.
In Ontario, the London Knights swept the Oshawa Generals for their first J. Ross Robertson Cup since 2016, while the Q’s Drummondville Voltigeurs swept the Baie-Comeau Drakkar winning their first Gilles-Courteau Trophy since 2009.
It sets up what should be an electric DOW Memorial Cup, which is set to be hosted by the Saginaw Spirit.
That round-robin tournament will kick off on May 24th, when the Warriors and Spirt square off.
More must-reads:
- Golden Knights, key winger have mutual interest but face financial crunch
- Oilers beat Stars to take 3-2 lead in WCF
- The 'MLB stolen base leaders' quiz
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