Buckley: Brad Marchand admits he 'wasn't upfront' about his health in face of ticking clock

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BOSTON — If you're a grizzled, old-school hockey type from the days of the Original Six, back when nobody wore helmets and everybody played hurt, chances are you'll applaud the words Brad Marchand was speaking late Friday night.

But if you've got both feet firmly planted in the 21st century — and if you happen to be, say, a team doctor whose job is to evaluate professional athletes and determine their fitness to play the game — then Marchand's words are a reminder that you shouldn't always trust the patient.

In this case, Marchand is, or was, the patient. Out of commission for the third period of Game 3 of the Boston Bruins' Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Florida Panthers, as well as missing all of Games 4 and 5, the 36-year-old Bruins captain was back on the ice Friday night for Game 6. After it was over, with Gustav Forsling's goal with 1:33 remaining giving the Panthers a series-clinching 2-1 victory — an emotional Marchand put it out there that if he had been calling the shots he wouldn't have missed a second of any of it.

"You know, I definitely pushed it getting back," said Marchand, who was the first Bruins player to speak with the media after the game.

"I wouldn't say I was upfront about how I felt," he said. "It's hard to sit out, and make the decision to sit out, so the only reason I got pulled out of that game and the only reason I was in protocol is because doctors forced me into it. So, you know, I got through it."

That game was the third period of Game 3. Marchand had taken a hard hit in the first period from the Panthers' Sam Bennett that the Bruins later insisted included a sucker punch. Only later did video surface indicating the Bruins were right and that the NHL Department of Player Safety was wrong — wrong as in not taking any punitive action against Bennett. But it made no difference insofar as Marchand's health was concerned: He was ruled out for the third period of Game 3, thus beginning several days of intrigue over when, or if, he'd return.

That happened in Game 6, his arrival on the ice for the puck drop making for a dramatic moment at TD Garden.

Marchand was second on the ice for Bruins' warmup and will make his return to the Boston lineup 👀 pic.twitter.com/MWPvFYQ1EK

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 17, 2024

"That ovation at the beginning of the game says it all," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery later said. But it was Marchand's media session after the game that really said it all.

Again, he admitted he "wasn't upfront" about his health. He said he was only in the concussion protocol "because doctors forced me into it."

Marchand spoke for several minutes, and we'll get to some of that in a moment. But while it's not a surprise for a veteran player like Marchand to want to talk his way back into the lineup, it was his candor that jumped out. So when the interview was more or less over and Marchand was being escorted out of the room by a Bruins media relations official, I leaned in and asked him: Did you fight the doctors to get back out there?

"Umm, yeah, I did," he said. "I mean, I did. But at the end of the day that's their call. … I was able to get out for the first and second periods (of Game 3), but they pulled me at that point."

This last revelation no doubt will come across as a little concerning to Marchand's loved ones. On the other hand, it'll please them — and every hockey parent in the world — to know that the medics won the fight.

To look at it from Marchand's perspective? The sobering reality is that time is running out on his career. He played on a Stanley Cup winner in 2011, this after the Bruins flew out to Vancouver for Game 7 and posted a decisive 4-0 victory over the Canucks, but that's now 13 years ago.

He's the only Bruin left from that team. There's been complete turnover on the rosters of the Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots as well. The Big Four coaches/managers back then were Claude Julien, Terry Francona, Doc Rivers and Bill Belichick. Now they are Jim Montgomery, Alex Cora, Joe Mazzulla and Jerod Mayo.

Boston has a new mayor and Massachusetts has a new governor. And Brad Marchand is still wearing the same old Stanley Cup ring at social functions.

"You work your entire life to be in a position to play for a Cup," Marchand said. "I spoke on it the other day a little bit, but to win and go all the way you need to be willing to sacrifice things.

"The longer you play the more you realize how hard it is to win, just the differences in teams that win and teams that don't, and how perfect everything has to line up," he said. "You hope every year that it goes your way for the team, not just winning it all but even being part of a team like this. You appreciate it because it doesn't happen every year and you never know when the next opportunity is going to be and if you're ever going to get one again."

So he tried to stay in for Game 3. He tried to play in Game 4, tried again in Game 5. Finally, the docs let him play in Game 6.

And now the next opportunity for Brad Marchand is next year.

(Photo: China Wong / NHLI via Getty Images)