Marchand No Fan Of Rumors Created By Reporters: 'I'd Love Some Of These Guys To Get Fired'
The Boston Bruins season begins Wednesday night at TD Garden, and though Brad Marchand is always fired up to get the season started, he's got a little extra inspiration to start this year.
The Bruins forward is making $4.5 million per year, so some in the media suggested the Bruins should try to trade him this summer in an effort to alleviate the team's salary cap issues.
Marchand said he didn't seek out these rumors and reports, but those close to him kept him informed. And suffice it to say, he was not very happy to hear them.
"It's finally nice to have some positive stuff out there in the media instead of all negative," Marchand told Fred Toucher at the team's media day. "All you guys talking about, 'Ship Marchand out, 25 goals isn't good enough!' I heard a lot of media, a lot of media talking about it this past summer. All over the place."
Fred asked Marchand if he's out to prove everyone wrong this year.
"It's everyone, "Marchand said. "It's something to prove this year, on and off the ice. It's just frustrating sometimes when you're expected to be perfect every single day, and that's just not how it is. But that's part of the job. The funny thing about the media is they think that you're best buddies, and it doesn't matter how much you trash them. I don't like that, I don't respect that, and if they think we're going to be buddies this year then they've got something else coming."
Fred then noted how Marchand seems to be admitting to listening to critics and using it for fuel, something other pro sports teams in the area rarely admit.
"Yeah, it is," Marchand said of using it as fuel. "I guess we should kind of take the good with the bad in Boston. It's just because we're such a great sports city that we're expected to do well. I think the fans and the media have been spoiled here the last 10 years ... with the Pats, the Celtics, the Red Sox, with all the sports teams that are around, all the teams have won so many championships in the past while that now it's almost expected to win every year and it's just not that way. The second you drop a couple of games, they completely turn on you. It's tough sometimes but I guess it's part of the job."
Are there any media members in particular that Mr. Marchand would like to call out by name?
"There's a lot of guys who like to call out. There's a few that really like to jump on the bandwagon," he said. "I did see a couple, people have brought up a few tweets and articles that came out that were just outrageous. We knew we were tight up against the cap, and it's like, 'Let's trade Marchand for [Patrick] Marleau,' and he's a guy who makes $2 million more than me, and that's going to fix the cap situation?
"I'd love to see some of these guys away from the rink and have a few words with them," Marchand continued. "I'd love some of these guys to get fired, is what I'd love. I'd love for them to be in my position and tell them, all right you're getting fired, because you're doing a horrible job at actually getting real information. I'd love to go back through the tweets in the summer and see how many reporters' tweets about who's getting traded and the trades that were coming, how many of them were right? None of them."
Listen to Fred Toucher's entire interview with Brad Marchand below, or on the Bruins audio page:
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