Kalman: Marchand Calls Out Skinner For Slew Foot
BOSTON (CBS) - Brad Marchand knows all about the ramifications of a slew foot.
Last season, the Bruins forward was fined by the NHL $2,500 for a slew foot on Pittsburgh defenseman Matt Niskanen. Now the pesky Boston winger wants something to happen to Carolina forward Jeff Skinner – even if that just means drawing attention to the Hurricanes star's evil ways.
"Skinner slew foots all the time and he's always doing that to guys and I think [Patrice Bergeron] just had enough of it," Marchand said Tuesday referring back to Bergeron going after Skinner in the closing moments of Monday night's Boston win in Raleigh.
"We even spoke about it before the game in the room, the guys were talking about how much he slew foots and you've got to watch out for him. And you could see it's very blatant, he kicks his legs out and throws him back."
Bergeron and Skinner were assessed roughing penalties, more for the altercation that ensued after the play than for the actual play that took place behind the Boston net. Video replays show Skinner and Bergeron both hitting the deck moments before Tyler Seguin sealed the 5-3 Boston victory with an empty-net goal.
As Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! Sports pointed out in a column Tuesday, Skinner was warned after a similar incident with Washington's Dmitry Orlov last season. That should be enough for the NHL to establish a track record with Skinner and come out with some form of punishment.
As expected, the usually mild-mannered Bergeron (one career NHL fighting major) took the high road and didn't make a public case for suspension or a fine for Skinner. But Bergeron, in response to a question on the matter, did say he hoped the scrutiny of Skinner would discourage the Justin Bieber look-alike from throwing his feet around going forward.
"I know it's hard sometimes for guys like that that do it a lot. I hope he will [stop]," Bergeron said. "When you don't expect something like that, you can hurt yourself. But it's part of the play. It's over with and I'm just looking forward."
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes coverage to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on twitter @TheBruinsBlog.
