Brad Marchand's new way to frustrate opponent crosses line

Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand. Sergei Belski-Imagn Images

Watch: Brad Marchand's new, outrageous way to frustrate opponent crosses a line

By Adam Gretz | Last updated Jan 24, 2025 8:08 AM ET

Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand is one of the NHL's most aggressive pests, always going out of his way to try to get under an opponents skin.

Sometimes it is a hit that blurs the line between dirty and clean.

There was a brief period a few years ago where he resorted to licking opponents (literally).

On Thursday, he introduced a new way, and it is a little outrageous even by his standards.

During a stoppage in play in the first period of against the Ottawa Senators, Marchand stopped in front of Senators forward Nick Cousins, took off his glove and proceeded to place his hand directly around Cousins' throat.

Brad Marchand took his hand out of his glove and put it around Nick Cousins' throat in between play pic.twitter.com/Dwr7C71Djy
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 24, 2025

As shocking of a move as that is, it is perhaps even more shocking that there was no penalty called on the play. It will be fascinating to see what the NHL does in terms of discipline in the form of a potential fine or suspension.

Marchand has an extensive track record with the league's Department of Player Safety and has regularly been suspended and fined throughout his career.

A player taking a gloved hand and shoving it an opponent's face during a scrum is pretty common. It happens. But making a point of removing the glove to put a hand around a player's neck is really stepping over the line.

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on Twitter @AGretz

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