Don Sweeney, Bruce Cassidy weigh in on Brad Marchand
“Yesterday was eye-opening for me that this one's hit a lot harder than some of the other things that have come his way,” said Sweeney. “I think he realizes the impact. We spoke a little about his family and how it reflects on him as a person, more so than him as player. I think he's gained a tremendous amount respect around the National Hockey League, worldwide as a matter of fact for him as a player. And I think that's where the attention needs to be 100 percent focused on, his impact as a hockey player...and as a leader of our hockey club. The things that he does to take away from that really don't need to exist anymore. And it'll be up to him. The proof will be if he can find that line and never really cross it anymore. Because he doesn't need to. He's accomplished things as a hockey player and now hopefully he wants to accomplish things as a leader and quality person. He was honest about it.”
“Brad's an elite payer in the National Hockey League so when I have conversations with him, it always starts there. Then it goes to 'Well, what do you want your legacy to be?' He's at a stage in his life and maturity where he understands, he truly gets it that he doesn't need the other stuff to make him to truly be an elite player,” said Cassidy. “So the licking? Is that crossing the line? Apparently it is. Sow we've talked about that. And I think Brad is ready to do that. We have his back. We always. As Donnie said, there are people around him, including his coach, his teammates. (Zdeno Chara) said it the other day. We love what Brad brings on the ice and that's what we want to be focused on. Having discussions with him, he does have a family now and that's part of it as well. There's a certain level of behavior he needs to get to. And he's admitted it. That's where we're going with Brad. We want him to keep being an excellent hockey player, without some of the other stuff. And we're going to work with him to do that.”