BOSTON — Brad Marchand said he didn’t even know the exchange between him and Jim Montgomery on the Bruins bench in their overtime loss to Utah had become a topic of conversation and expressed surprise when he found out. After a Marchand turnover led to a Utah goal that was eventually overturned for an offside, cameras caught Montgomery angrily addressing his captain on the bench in an animated fashion and then poked the back of his shoulder. Marchand thought he deserved the critique.
“People are very sensitive these days and it’s unfortunate how coaches are scrutinized over things like that. There’s a lack of accountability nowadays because people can’t handle the heat,” he said. “If you make a mistake like that, you deserve to hear about it.
I’m glad that he said something about it. If he didn’t, we would have a much bigger issue.” Marchand was more annoyed at the scrutinization of the exchange than the actual exchange.
“The fact that that’s something that we’re talking about is disappointing but that’s the way things are,” Marchand said. “There’s an accountability to be held in this room and nobody’s absolved from that. I made a really bad mistake and at a bad time in the game.
That’s something that’s not acceptable. I expected to hear about it, not only from him but a bunch of guys on the bench too. I should be held accountable in that situation.
I’m glad that he did.” Montgomery said there was no carryover and that he and Marc.
