When Boston Bruins star Brad Marchand appeared to slam his stick into the head of Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald's head on Sunday, the hockey world had a collective sigh and muttered "here we go again."
He's like two different players in the same pugnacious body. Marchand has 84 points in 64 games this season, the kind of performance that has sparked MVP talk and has helped the Bruins push to the top of the Eastern Conference. He's also been suspended twice in the past 12 months, including a five-game ban this season for an elbow to the head of Marcus Johansson of the New Jersey Devils; and fined twice since Jan.