Brad Marchand knows how to grab attention. He’s done it on the ice his entire career and, on Thursday, he did it with his comments about the cutthroat nature of Stanley Cup playoff hockey.
“People don’t want to say it, but part of playoffs is trying to hurt every player on the other team and the more guys you take out, the more advantage your team has,” said the B’s captain on Thursday.
Whether or not you think Marchand’s characterization of playoffs was an exaggeration or not, it wasn’t far off the money.
And when Montgomery was asked about it, a smile came across his face, though the coach tried to tone it down a bit for him.
“Personally, I just love the intensity that emanates from him. Playoff hockey, everyone sees it.. There’s more intensity, there’s more emotion. And that’s what he was talking about. When that happens, everything is done harder and that’s what he was alluding to,” said Montgomery.
The coach later added, “I never thought that guys were going out to hurt each other. I always thought it was ‘We’re going to make him pay. Every foot of ice, you’re going to earn it.’ And that’s where there’s more injuries in the playoffs because everyone gives everything they have. It’s not a Tuesday night in Winnipeg or a Thursday night in LA. You’re fighting for your season.”
Trent Frederic said that he wasn’t exactly sure what Marchand had said but gave his own take on playoff hockey is that it’s a war of attrition.
“It’s the playoffs. Guys are being physical, guys are playing hard and they’re going to that line without trying to completely cross it,” said Frederic. “I don’t know exactly what he said, but you want to punish the other team as much as you can and you want to make it hard on them. Whether it’s Game 1 or it’s Game 6, hopefully there’s a point where they say ‘I don’t want to get the puck. That guy’s hit me 10 times, or maybe he might give me a little jab or crosscheck.’ Something like that, where he might not be as interested in wining that battle. That’s what’s so great about it. Whether it’s a four- or seven-game series, it’s different than just one game.”
After playfully claiming that he didn’t know what Marchand had said, Florida coach Paul Maurice was read the quote by a reporter. Count him as another person who didn’t want to go quite as far as Marchand did.
“I think the playoffs are more focused on everything. What’s different? Every hit gets finished, every hit gets finished as hard as it can be. But, no, I don’t think our game would last 10 minutes if that were true because the referees would put everyone in the box. I don’t think that’s true. I just think all things are more focused,” said Maurice. “This series we’ve played is very, very physical and the hit totals are very high and I think they were in the Toronto-Boston series as well.. I just think you cannot play 82 games the way Boston and Florida is playing this series or the way Boston and Toronto played that series. You’d have nothing left.”
While the party line in the morning was that Marchand was a game-time decision after missing the previous two after taking Sam Bennett’s punch in Game 3, he certainly gave all the signs on Thursday that he was going to be ready.
And his mother Lynn, who was interviewed by Ch. 7 at the Garden Pro shop, all but confirmed it.
“He’s pumped. He’s ready for a big win tonight for the Bruins and he’s excited to get out there and extend this series,” she said….
Trent Frederic came into this playoff season with a stat line of 0-0-0 in nine playoff games over two series in his first two NHL seasons. But this season, he has found his way to leave a mark. While his 3-2-5 totals in 12 games going into Game 6 don’t suggest he’s exactly lighting it up, he’s contributed in big moments. He scored a goal in Game 3 of the Toronto series that tied that game and allowed the B’s to take it. And in the do-or-die Game 5 in Florida on Tuesday, he helped set up Charlie McAvoy’s game-winning goal, dropping it for Charlie Coyle who in turn found McAvoy.
“I’m really proud of his development for him,” said Montgomery. “He’s an unreal kid and human being, and to see him take the steps of owning the ice in the playoff time, it’s the first time he’s doing it. And you can see his confidence on the ice. The goal he sets up, the McAvoy goal, I don’t think he ever would have thought of doing that two weeks ago, never mind two years ago.”
Frederic said he’s found a certain confidence level that has allowed him to make more of an impact that he was able to do his first two playoff seasons.
“It’s when you have that confidence in feeling that ‘OK, I can go out and make a play, I can go out and score a goal,’ I tell myself that way more than it happens, but the thought of that, to think that and you want the puck, it starts coming to you,” said Frederic. “And when you get it, you want to make a play with it. In my earlier days, you didn’t want it in certain situations because you don’t want to mess up. That’s all you’re worried about. I think Monty does a good job of that. Everyone makes mistakes out there. It’s just that you want to make as few as possible. But you always want to make plays. It’s the mindset of ‘I’m going to make a play,’ not ‘I’m going to (expletive) this game up.’”…
While Marchand was expected to return, Maurice was making his chess moves as well, inserting shift disturbers Ryan Lomberg and Nick Cousins and taking out Steven Lorentz and Kyle Okposo.
