Brad Marchand predicts things will get ugly in the playoffs.

Marchand not expecting anything pretty in the playoffs.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Brad Marchand predicts things will get ugly in the playoffs.
Alex Edelman/Zuma

Although things will have no doubt sorted themselves out by the time we have reached the Stanley Cup Final, it seems many pundits and even some players are predicting that we may be headed for some ugly hockey in the opening rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. No doubt there was some expectation that players would be at something less than peak performance given the long layoff and the relatively short training camp, but those sentiments seem to be growing worse with time. 

The latest to express this opinion was Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand who on Saturday made it clear that he expects to see some ugliness out there on the ice when the show gets underway. Although Marchand stated that he expects everyone to play hard and for things to be highly competitive, it seems he believes the layoff will make things less than ideal.

"I think it’s going to be really sloppy hockey, to be honest with you," admitted Marchand. "The ice conditions are not going to be good. We’re just going to have to battle it out regardless of the situation. It’s still going to be intense and hard-fought."

There is no doubt truth to what Marchand saying and no one would know better than a player living through the experience. In the case of the Bruins, who have been missing players like David Pastrnak during their brief training camp, the climb will be an uphill battle given what appears to have been the irresponsible actions of some of their players. One of the positives we were expecting to see come out of the stoppage would have been the chance to see NHL teams competing at full strength in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but recent events have made that seem less and less likely. Teams like the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes have already announced significant injuries, and players like the aforementioned David Pastrnak and Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford have been kept out of training camp due to concerns caused by COVID-19

I suspect players will in fact look somewhat rusty come the playoffs, but as I stated earlier I think as we get deeper and deeper into the tournament that will become less of a factor.


Source: