‘How about that f—–g save?’ Brad Marchand’s appeal of his 6-game suspension reveals what set him off

Brad Marchand could have stayed with his teammates in New York on Thursday. The day before, he had practiced with the team before his in-person appeal of his six-game suspension with commissioner Gary Bettman.

Instead, Marchand returned to Boston for a solo on-ice session with skills coach Kim Brandvold. It was an acknowledgment that a reduction of his suspension and clearance to rejoin the team in Ottawa were unlikely.

“We’re not thinking that’s going to happen,” coach Bruce Cassidy said Thursday of Marchand being available against the Senators on Saturday. “But you never know. That’s a best-case scenario.”

On Friday, Bettman confirmed Marchand would not be eligible to play until he finished serving all six games. Saturday marks Game No. 5. Monday against Colorado will be Marchand’s sixth and final game. The left wing is eligible to bring the appeal to an independent arbitrator.

Bettman’s 14-page ruling included some revelations:

1. On Feb. 11, when he first spoke publicly about his suspension, Marchand declined to disclose why he punched Tristan Jarry. During Wednesday’s appeal, Marchand testified that after Jarry covered a puck, the Pittsburgh goalie said, “How about that f—–g save?”

“To say that Mr. Marchand overreacted to that comment would be an understatement,” Bettman wrote. “Mr. Marchand himself admitted as much, testifying that Mr. Jarry’s comment was ‘nothing really out of line or derogatory in any kind of way.’ Mr. Marchand also admits that he overreacted, stating: ‘My emotions got the best of me and I made a poor decision.’”

2. Neither the NHLPA nor the NHL could find another example of a player punching an unsuspecting goalie after a whistle had blown. The NHLPA’s comparable case was Joe Thornton punching Petr Mrazek in 2019. Thornton was not suspended.

Bettman argued that Mrazek swiped at Thornton with his stick, then left his crease to confront the ex-Bruin behind the net. As such, Mrazek should have been prepared for a physical response.

“I do believe the Thornton-Mrazek incident is significant — just not for the reason the NHLPA argued,” Bettman wrote. “Its significance lies in the fact that it was the only incident that anyone was able to identify as even a potential comparator. Stated another way, nobody could identify any instance in which a skater punched an unsuspecting goaltender in his crease after the whistle had blown. The fact that the NHLPA was relegated to having to place such a significant reliance on the Thornton-Mrazek incident as a ‘comparable’ highlights the highly unusual — and serious — nature of this incident.”

3. The NHLPA argued that Marchand should have been suspended for four games. It arrived at this conclusion, partly, by citing three comparable cases: Milan Lucic punching Kole Sherwood (two-game suspension), Thornton punching Mrazek (no suspension) and Radko Gudas high-sticking Nikita Kucherov (two-game suspension).

The NHLPA settled on four games for Marchand in the following manner: one game for punching Jarry (the midpoint between Lucic’s two-game suspension and Thornton’s lack of suspension); a second game for high-sticking because it was less egregious than Gudas’ penalty; and two more games for Marchand’s history.

Bettman disagreed.

“If anything, the conduct here is even more concerning,” wrote Bettman, comparing Marchand’s incident to Lucic’s, “as it was completely unprovoked, occurred after the play had been whistled dead and involved a punch and a high stick delivered to an unsuspecting goaltender.”

As noted above, Bettman did not believe the Thornton-Mrazek incident was comparable.

Bettman’s most withering words were on Marchand’s history. The left wing has now been suspended eight times and fined four times.

“There simply is no player who has a disciplinary history comparable to Mr. Marchand’s,” Bettman wrote.

4. One of Marchand’s complaints was that his three-game suspension for slew-footing Oliver Ekman-Larsson on Nov. 28 set him up for an escalation in punishment. Marchand argued that he should have been suspended for one game.

Bettman did not see it that way. In fact, the commissioner believed Marchand got lucky.

“In short, both Mr. Marchand’s record of eight (8) suspensions and four (4) fines, and his recent experience involving separate infractions twenty-one (21) games apart from one another,” wrote Bettman, “call for discipline significantly over and above the three (3) game suspension imposed in November 2021.”

5. General manager Don Sweeney participated in the appeal. Sweeney testified that when he saw the incident, he acknowledged it would catch the attention of the Department of Player Safety because of the game’s circumstances: the Penguins up by two goals in the final minute of regulation. Sweeney was the team’s lone representative during the appeal.

“Not surprisingly, Mr. Sweeney testified that his initial reaction to seeing Mr. Marchand’s conduct was that it would raise a concern,” Bettman wrote, “on the part of DPS in light of the ‘heightened awareness’ to situations ‘where the game may be already over, the outcome determined and an (incident) occurs.’”

6. Marchand previously acknowledged his actions were “stupid.” He repeated this statement during the appeal. He appears to have convinced Bettman of his remorse.

“I found Mr. Marchand to be forthright and sincere in expressing remorse for his conduct,” wrote Bettman, “which he did not attempt to defend and which he acknowledged was ‘stupid.’”

(Photo of Brad Marchand being pushed away and thrown out of the Feb. 8 game against the Penguins: Stuart Cahill / Boston Herald / Getty Images)