Why Marchand was right to pound Eller

Do you agree with this panelist's point of view?

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Published 5 years ago
Why Marchand was right to pound Eller
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In the waning moments of the Washington Capitals’ absolute shellacking of the Boston Bruins this evening, well-known pest Brad Marchand jumped Caps forward Lars Eller and dropped him with a huge right hand.

And of course, Marchand's reputation got the best of it. Fans on social media started writing that of course, the Bruins gritty forward would not waste a second to be a jerk on the ice, and got the opportunity when the Capitals took a brutal 7-0 lead in the season's first contest. Marchand took exception to Eller chirping the Boston bench after scoring the Capitals seventh goal, jumping him several minutes later. Marchand earned “a two-minute minor for instigating, five minutes for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct, while Eller got five for fighting."

You can see the incident in the video above. 

It remains to be seen if Marchand will face a hearing with the NHL's Department of Player Safety for his actions, seeing that he remains a repeat offender, however one panelist of Sportsnet, former general manager Brian Burke believes that Marchand was right to pound Eller the way he did. He added that it was a question of values for the Bruins gritty forward. 

The Capitals forward had just scored his first goal of the 2018-19 season, and sure that is exciting, especially with a 7-0 score right after the Stanley Cup banner was hoist in the arena. However, you are leading 7-0. No need to celebrate in front of the opposite team's bench and taunt them the way Eller did. Burke had a problem with Eller's celebration and completely understands why Marchand decided to take matters into his own hands. 

His panelist colleague, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman mentioned that some people believe a player should not restrain from celebrating a goal, despite the clear win, however, Burke is from an older generation and believes that players should respect one another in such a situation. Players all know what it is to lose in an embarrassing performance and should not taunt the opposite team when it is the other way around. 

Marchand admitted that is why he took exception to Eller late in the game. 

"His celebration was unnecessary. He took an angle in front of our bench and celebrated in a 7-0 game. So I just let him know."


 Do you agree with this panelist's point of view or should Eller have the right to celebrate like he did despite the score? 

Source: Sportsnet