Brad Marchand defends Jim Montgomery after Bruins coach gave him a shove on the bench
BOSTON -- Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery has come under some fire this week after giving Brad Marchand a shove on the Boston bench following a heated exchange with the B's captain over the weekend. While some have taken issue with Montgomery's approach, Marchand has no problem with it.
In fact, Marchand is glad that his coach reamed him out in front of everyone and held him accountable for what could have been a costly turnover in Utah.
Marchand backs Montgomery after incident on Bruins bench
The incident in question happened Saturday night in the third period of Boston's 2-1 overtime loss to the Utah Hockey Club. With the B's up 1-0, Marchand committed a bad turnover in the offensive zone which led to a great scoring chance for Utah.
Utah scored on that opportunity, though the goal was overturned following an offsides review. But after Montgomery saw Marchand foolishly try to do too much with a pair of defenders draped all over him, he let his captain have it.
In an extremely animated way, the head coach told Marchand that he can't be doing such things in an extremely animated way. Montgomery hammered home his point by giving his captain a little shove to the back.
Marchand didn't think it was a big deal Saturday night, and was surprised that it has become a thing when asked about the incident Thursday following Boston's morning skate.
"People are very sensitive these days. It's unfortunate how coaches are scrutinized over things like that," said Marchand. "There is a lack of accountability nowadays because people can't handle the heat. You make a mistake like that, you deserve to hear about it."
As a captain, Marchand knows he shouldn't be giving the puck away like he did in Utah.
"I'm glad he said something about it. If he didn't, we would have bigger issues," he said. "The fact that is something we're talking about is disappointing, but that's how things are today."
Montgomery said he and Marchand didn't need to have a conversation about the incident
Montgomery also downplayed the incident on Thursday, and said that he and Marchand didn't even discuss it after Saturday's loss. The head coach did express some remorse for getting so fired up, but he has moved on.
"Him and I are both emotional people. I'm not ecstatic with myself about it, but I don't think about it afterwards and neither does he," said Montgomery. "He's a pro, a great player that does so many good things for us, and he has high expectations as well. For us, that is over and done with."
Montgomery said that he would never get so spirited or animated when chewing out a younger player on the bench. But he hasn't had a problem calling out some of his veteran players when they've needed a push, and given Marchand's NHL resume and the "C" on his sweater, he knew that Marchand could handle it on Saturday.
"You have to have the ability to hold your best players accountable," said Montgomery. "I'm fortunate I have the leaders that I have here, so I can have that hard, firm relationship. They can come to me if they don't like something with the way we're playing, and I'll listen."
"There is an accountability that needs to be held in this room. No one is resolved from that," said Marchand. "I made a really bad mistake at a bad time in the game. That's something that is not acceptable and I shouldn't have done to begin with. It's something I expected to hear about not only from him about, but a bunch of guys on the bench too. I should be held accountable in that situation and I'm glad that he did."
The Bruins have lost two straight games and three of their last four. They'll look to get back in the win column Thursday night when they host the Dallas Stars at TD Garden.
