Brad Marchand says he's changed, and should be respected for his abilities

Following a three-game suspension for a slew-foot on Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Vancouver Canucks, Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins told reporters he's tried hard to ditch his reputation as a dirty player.

"I have tried extremely hard over the last four years to get away from the reputation I've had," said Marchand. "I think I've done an extremely good job at that. I know early on I crossed over the line a lot of times. It's unfortunate that continues to haunt me."

Despite the fact that this was his first suspension since January 2018, the NHL's Department of Player Safety stated Marchand's history of slew-foots and clipping was taken into account when deciding on his latest punishment. Marchand seems to believe that is unfair.

"I feel I've completely transformed myself from the player I was to a player that should be respected in this league for his abilities. I understand completely the history that I have. I just was hoping they would have seen past that. Obviously that wasn't the case," he said.

This latest suspension was Machand's seventh in his career. He's forfeited almost $1 million in salary over that time. I can understand where Marchand is coming from, and if he's truly trying to change, that's great. That said, he earned the reputation he got and it's going to be very tough to ditch that.

Brad Marchand on his suspension: "I have tried extremely hard over the last four years to get away from the reputation I've had. I think I've done an extremely good job at that. I know early on I crossed over the line a lot of times. It's unfortunate that continues to haunt me."— Fluto Shinzawa (@FlutoShinzawa) November 30, 2021

Marchand: "I feel I've completely transformed myself from the player I was to a player that should be respected in this league for his abilities. I understand completely the history that I have. I just was hoping they would have seen past that. Obviously that wasn't the case."— Fluto Shinzawa (@FlutoShinzawa) November 30, 2021

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