Brad Marchand Voted Best Trash-Talker -- And Worst Trash-Talker -- In NHL Player Poll
BOSTON (CBS) -- Brad Marchand is a man of many talents. He's pretty good at putting the puck in the back of the net, and he is also a pro at getting under an opponent's skin. He's cut out a lot of his antics that drove hockey fans -- even Bruins fans on occasion -- a little bit crazy, but he is still the king of trash talk in the NHL.
That title was awarded to him by his peers in the NHL. Those very same peers also believe that Marchand is a wildly overrated trash talker. Does it make any sense? In regards to Marchand, it certainly does.
In the annual NHLPA Player Poll, the B's forward was voted both the best trash-talker in the league, and the worst trash-talker in the league. Though it's a bit confusing, this is also a trend for Marchand. This marks the second straight year that he's atop both categories.
Marchand ran away with best trash-talker, receiving nearly 26 percent of the vote. Drew Doughty of the L.A. Kings was next on the list with 13.37 percent, followed by Ryan Reaves of the Vegas Golden Knights at 11.05 percent.
As for worst trash-talker, Marchand received 10.59 percent of the votes, just a lick ahead of Doughty and P.K. Subban of the New Jersey Devils, both of whom received 6.85 percent of the votes.
It turns out that while both Marchand and Doughty are both pretty good at their trash-talking craft, their chatter isn't for everyone.
Marchand was also third in "Funniest Player," receiving 5.68 percent of the votes (Florida's Keith Yandle won with 18 percent), and placed third in "Best Follow On Social Media" with 4.37 percent of the votes. It's very likely that teammate Torey Krug voted against Marchand in both of those categories, given Marchand's tendency to make light of Krug's height to his 185,000 followers.
Elsewhere on the poll, Marchand's "bromance" with Patrice Bergeron was voted the fourth-best in the NHL, behind David Perron and Ryan O'Reilly of the St. Louis Blues, Joe Thornton and Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks, and Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Bergeron made a couple of solo appearances on the poll as well, finishing second for "most complete player" with 25.44 percent, behind Sidney Crosby's 45.56 percent. He also received the fourth-most votes (3.33 percent) among players you would want on your team if you had to win one game, finishing behind Crosby (44.03 percent), Edmonton's Connor McDavid (30.53 percent), and Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon (4.11 percent).
David Pastrnak and his "Pasta" moniker finished second (7.31 percent) for "Best Nickname" in the NHL, a pastina piece behind Tomas "Tuna" Tatar of the Canadiens (8.08 percent). Artemi "Breadman" Panarin of the New York Rangers (5.77 percent) and Christian "Stinky" Fischer of Arizona (2.69 percent) rounded out the nickname rankings.
A Bruins legend also received some votes, with players itching to see Bobby Orr take the ice once again. Orr was second among players -- past or present -- that current players would want to see play, receiving 14.99 percent of the votes. Orr finished behind "The Great One" Wayne Gretzky, who received 31.83 percent of the votes.
