Marchand: 'I don't really talk trash anymore'
Despite being voted both the best and worst trash-talker for the second straight year in the NHLPA's annual player poll, Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand claims he's been holding his tongue on the ice.
"I don't really trash talk anymore," Marchand said Thursday, according to Mike Petraglia of CLNS Media Network. "Too many microphones. Referees too. Too many It's just not the generation anymore. Nothing I'm really overly interested in anymore."
The longtime Bruins pest has been known for terrorizing opponents mentally and on the scoresheet throughout his 11 year NHL career. "I might have caught a couple guys with some good ones back in the day," he said, according to Mike Porter of The Boston Globe.
However, Marchand added that he's steered clear of hurling chirps at linemate and four-time Selke Trophy winner Patrice Bergeron.
"I absolutely would never - I don't bite the hand that feeds me. I'm a little smarter than that," Marchand said, according to NESN's Mike Cole. "I think the most we've ever got into it is when Pasta (David Pastrnak) and I are getting into it, and Bergy's gotta yell at both of us to stop yelling at each other."
Before the NHL suspended play on March 12, Marchand was enjoying another elite campaign with 28 goals and 87 points through 70 games for the league-leading Bruins.