CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Brad Marchand is appealing the six-game suspension he received for roughing and high-sticking Tristan Jarry, the NHLPA announced on Friday.
The first appeal will be to commissioner Gary Bettman. Following this appeal, Marchand can also appeal the suspension to an independent arbitrator.
The incident occurred in the final minute of the Penguins' 4-2 win in Boston on Tuesday:
Marchand spoke to the media for the first time since the incident on Friday, and he declined to comment on why he acted the way he did.
"It really doesn't matter," he said. "It was a situation that arose and I reacted very poorly. So it really doesn't matter what started it. You know, in that situation, I obviously have to be much better controlling my emotions and not reacting that way. ... Was it stupid? Of course, it was stupid. I'm not denying that. I absolutely should not have done it. But suspension-worthy? I don't think so."
Marchand explained that what he did was "not going to injure Jarry"
"No potential injury on that play," he said. "He was very well-protected."
Marchand, no stranger to meeting with the NHL's player safety department, said that the hearing this week was similar to ones he's experienced in the past. He said that while he can't justify his actions, he said that he thought the punishment was a "very, very deep suspension for these actions," and didn't seem to agree with his prior history being taken into account in the hearing.
"The initial hearing was kind of about the play," he said. "Similar in every situation, it's about the play at hand. Talk a lot about history, which is what I think is the biggest factor in this one. Very, very hefty suspension for these plays. And so the only way that they can justify that is on the history side of things."
The NHL's collective bargaining agreement is pretty clear on what can be taken into account when issuing supplementary discipline: The type of conduct (and whether the conduct is intentional or reckless, and involves the use of excessive and unnecessary force), whether the opponent was injured, the situation of the game in which the incident occurred (late in the game, lopsided score, whether there were prior events in the game, etc.) and whether or not the player has a history of being subject to supplementary discipline for on-ice conduct. The CBA states that "players who repeatedly violate league playing rules will be more severely punished for each new violation."
In the video the player safety department published explaining the reasoning for the six-game suspension, it was noted that Marchand has been suspended seven times, and fined five times previously.
If the six-game suspension is upheld, Marchand will forfeit $448,170.72 in salary, bringing his total career earnings lost due to suspensions and fines to over $1.4 million.
Marchand said that he believes the NHL's supplementary discipline process "needs some work." It sounds like the guy with a lengthy suspension/fine history isn't crazy about that being used against him for future offenses.
"It needs to change moving forward," he said. "It's definitely something that's gonna have to be looked at in the next CBA, the way that this process is done. Suspensions are getting deeper and deeper or bigger and bigger, with circumstances and incidents."
Marchand doesn't see the need for his own game to change quite as much, though.
"I'm an emotional guy, I always have been," he said. "That part of me will never change. I'll never want it to change because that's what makes me the player I am. It's just making sure it's reined in."
