Brad Marchand rips WEEI’s Rich Keefe for report of rift between him, David Pastrnak
"I’m not gonna let some random guy come into the media and spit absolute nonsense."
The Bruins’ struggles on the ice have been well-documented so far this season.
But according to WEEI’s Rich Keefe, the issues rooted on an underperforming roster have also carried over into the dressing room.
“What I’m hearing is they’re also a mess off the ice,” Keefe said Friday morning on “Jones & Keefe. “Apparently the locker room is a disaster, and David Pastrnak is at the center of that. David Pastrnak has told the team he doesn’t want to be on a line with Brad Marchand, and it may stem from Brad Marchand calling out Pastrnak for some of his play throughout the year.”
It didn’t take very long for Keefe’s comments to reach both Marchand and Pastrnak down in Florida ahead of the team’s road matchup against the Panthers on Saturday.
When asked about the report, Marchand didn’t mince words about his relationship with Pastrnak and the validity of those on-air comments.
“I’ve heard what was said in the media this morning. It’s unfortunate,” Marchand told reporters. “I know reporters have a job to do and that job is to report on the team. Usually, you try to be fact-based. But when there’s just blatant lies told in the media, that’s where there’s a problem. The fact this guy has a platform and is just making this up is embarrassing. There’s zero truth to anything he said. This is how you lose a job very quickly. The fact that he’s gonna have a job after this is insane.
“Because Pasta and I are best friends. We’ve been incredibly close for a long time, and the only reason we don’t play together is to spread the depth through the lineup. There’s zero truth to him being a problem in the room. He’s one of the most loved guys in the room. There’s zero issues in the room at all and to say he’s at the center of anything is a completely fabricated lie. This guy has zero merit to anything he’s saying.”
The Bruins have not had plenty of positive news to sort through this season — especially since the turn of the new year. Following Thursday’s 4-1 loss to the Lightning, Boston has lost six games in a row for the first time since March 2015.
Marchand acknowledged that the Bruins are in the midst of a difficult season that few expected in the fall. But he added that the ongoing dysfunction on the ice has led to narratives that have drawn the ire of the candid captain.
“It’s very frustrating because this is what happens — we have not pulled our weight this year,” Marchand said. “We have not had the season we want to have. But I’m not gonna let some random guy come into the media and spit absolute nonsense. From this point forward, this guy has zero credibility.
“The fact he’s coming out with this is ridiculous and embarrassing. Anything he puts forth in the future is not going to be deemed as truth because he’s completely making all of this up. … If he would have fact-checked, he would have found out it’s all nonsense. There’s zero truth to this. It’s ridiculous.”
In a vintage Marchand scrum, the 36-year-old winger pulled no punches about Keefe.
“I’m not gonna let it become something it’s not,” Marchand said. “This guy can go pound sand and go back to the closet where no one knew he was before and report on nothing because that’s what he’s going to be doing after this.”
The Bruins also sent a veiled message on social media, posting videos of Marchand and Pastrnak chatting and laughing during Friday’s practice.
“I don’t make much of it,” Pastrnak said Friday. “I know how I feel about Marchy. We love each other. I have a huge amount of respect for him. So we had a good laugh about it. It’s 100 percent false.”
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