Blues’ Maroon reveals his best strategy to piss off Marchand

The Stanley Cup finals kick off on Monday and Boston Bruins pest Brad Marchand has had time to find new ways to get under opponents’ skin. The Eastern Conference finals were easily won in great part because Marchand managed to distract Carolina Hurricanes captain Justin Williams, and while the St. Louis Blues know what Marchand is capable of, one player already has a strategy in place to counter him. 

Patrick Maroon, the Game 7 double overtime hero in the second round series against the Dallas Stars, has a few tricks up his sleeve and revealed to team insider Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic on Thursday how he plans on getting the better of Brad Marchand. 

“Brad is a guy you’ve just got to leave alone. Don’t even look at him. As a player like me, when guys are engaged, I’m more engaged. If guys are talking and trying to get under my skin, I’m more effective because you feel like you’re doing your job.

“So I think a guy like Brad that plays better when guys are engaged to him ... I think he’s more effective that way. So for us, we talked, ‘Just leave him alone, let him be Marchand.’ He’s unbelievable, he’s the leader of that group, so we’ve just got to leave him alone.”

We will have to wait and see if that strategy will work against Marchand as the first game of the Cup finals takes place in Boston on Monday night.