Bruins' Marchand characterizes Canadiens' Subban as a dirty player
The Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens are already trading barbs through the press ahead of their second round Stanley Cup playoff grudge match - the 34th playoff series between the two franchises - that kicks off on Thursday night.
On Wednesday, Bruins forward Brad Marchand addressed the sort of game Canadiens defender P.K. Subban plays. Marchand, in a spot of criticism that is as rich as duck confit, essentially characterized the Canadiens star as a dirty player:
Marchand on Subban: "He likes to come in after whistles and grab guys and hit guys. ... A lot of slew foots during the game." #Bruins #Habs
— Dan Cagen (@DanCagen) April 30, 2014
On the one hand, Marchand cedes the moral high-ground to just about everyone up to Attila the Hun. On the other - Subban's history of slew-footing players like Brandon Dubinsky, or Chris Kunitz, or Patrik Elias, makes this particular criticism rather well-founded.
Meanwhile, Bruins head coach Claude Julien explained the particular cognitive dissonance he's experienced in his career (he's coached both the Canadiens and Bruins), "I hated Boston when I was in Montreal," said the Bruins head coach. "And now I hate Montreal because I’m in Boston."
Asked for a response to Julien's comments, Canadiens goaltender Carey Price played it cool:
Carey Price on #Bruins hating the #Habs: “That’s not very nice.”
— Аrpon Basu (@ArponBasu) April 30, 2014
So this should be a pretty interesting series.