Marchand Calls Out Hot Mics Use: ‘Very Disrespectful’

Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand has had enough of the hot mics giving fans insight into what’s said and what happens on an NHL bench.

In the waning minutes of a 6-3 Florida Panthers win in Game 2, all hell broke loose on the ice as frustrations boiled over from the side of the Boston Bruins. As usual, insults started flying between the two teams’ benches, and ESPN between the benches analyst Ray Ferraro’s mic remained on to catch the not-so-friendly pleasantries being tossed between Florida Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk and Boston Bruins center Tomas Nosek. Let’s just say that Tkachuk had a colorful description of Nosek’s wife that, if said on the streets, would likely result in Tkachuk taking a punch or two to his face.

However, Brad Marchand had no issues with what Tkachuk said but rather with the between the benches mic remaining hot for four minutes.

“I think the NHL and the media outlets cross the line by allowing those mics,” the Boston Bruins winger told the media after Game 4. “There’s a reason guys don’t want mics on the bench, and that’s because they’re going to take advantage of it at some point, and they did. Regardless of what’s said by Tkachuk or other guys, there should never be an instance where a mic picks up any of that stuff.”

The video and audio of Tkachuk, as most hot mic instances in sports do, went viral, and many (including this puck scribe) felt that Tkachuk crossed the line with his comments to Nosek. Marchand disagreed and claimed that ESPN and the media crossed the line.

“The fact that the media outlets allowed that to happen, it’s very disrespectful to the (broadcast) agreement we have in place,” Marchand later added. “It’s going to get guys in trouble. A lot of things that are said, a lot of things like what he said, that is said all game long and throughout the years, but you don’t pick it up (on) mics. There shouldn’t be mikes in that situation. It’s part of the game.”