Daly claims NHL didn't ask Marchand to stop licking players

There are mixed messages coming from the NHL's head office.

The league's deputy commissioner, Bill Daly, insisted Friday that the NHL never told the Boston Bruins or Brad Marchand to tone down the tongue.

“No, we did not contact the Bruins or Brad Marchand regarding this incident,” Daly told USA Today Sports' Kevin Allen on Friday. "It’s just not true.”

Earlier on Friday, the talented Boston Bruins agitator denied receiving the warning by replying to tweets from the NHL on NBC and The Boston Globe accounts with "false" and "this is false," respectively.

Daly's denial came less than 24 hours after a league representative stated to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski that the league had asked Marchand to stop licking players after he did just that to Toronto Maple Leafs forward Leo Komarov in Game 1 of the teams' first-round series.

From Wyshynski's story, which followed up on a note from Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman:

"The NHL felt Marchand's actions were a little less cute. A league spokesperson confirmed a report by Sportsnet that the NHL demanded Marchand not repeat that particular antic again. A message was communicated to Marchand through the series' supervisor of officials Mick McGeough."

After sending the "false" tweets, Marchand texted NBC Sports Boston's Joe Haggerty to reiterate his denial and to accuse the NHL of being controlled by "the Toronto media" if they were to call him about it.