It’s really easy to hate Brad Marchand. He’s an incredibly gifted hockey player, an NHL All-Star, and he rides the line of what’s dirty and what isn’t (he’s crossed it a few times). The NHL and the fans are easily distracted by Marchand’s antics to distract from other teams’ gifted agitators. I’d like to point some fingers at a few names for a moment, if I may.

Nazem Kadri of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Everyone knows the effect Kadri can have on a team. He’s a fast skater, has incredible hands, can score a ton of goals, and can change the outcome of the game. He also has a temper. He’s been found guilty of dirty hits on vulnerable players multiple times, and Toronto fans seem to ignore it. This regular 2017-2018 season, Kadri amassed 32 goals along with 43 penalty minutes.

Cedric Paquette of the Tampa Bay Lightning. While Paquette doesn’t score nearly as many goals as Brad Marchand, he mirrors his style of play quite a bit. He’s fast, he’s gritty, and he’s not afraid to take a couple extra (unnecessary) whacks at players twice his size. The fans in Tampa love watching him get under the skin of someone the likes of six foot four 230lb Shea Weber, but would certainly hate him if the roles were reversed and he was taking shots at someone like their own Victor Hedman. This past season he totaled five goals and 41 penalty minutes.

Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins. A winner of three Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh, a past 50 goal scorer, and multiple 30+ goal scorer, you want Malkin on your roster without hesitation. But Malkin’s another one. Malkin has a short temper and will take out a player for looking at him the wrong way. This may be met with unpopular opinion, but I don’t care, Malkin is a pest. This season, Malkin scored 42 goals and sat in the box for 87 penalty minutes.

Wayne Simmonds of the Philadelphia Flyers. Now I realize Simmonds hasn’t been suspended much at all, but Simmonds is a master at getting underneath his opponents’ skin, and making them pay by scoring 20+ goals a season. Simmonds’ hits are those that borderline on dangerous, and cause him to be a presence on the ice. I almost put in Radko Gudas instead of Simmonds on this list, but I didn’t because Gudas just doesn’t really score many goals at all. We’re all well aware Gudas is a garbage person on the ice, for christ’s sake he’s injuring his own guys in practice. But back to Simmonds, he had 24 goals this season and 57 PIMS.

Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Captials. Yes, you read that right. I’m comparing Ovechkin and Marchand. Now we all know damn well how insanely talented a hockey player Alexander Ovechkin is. Aside from never winning a cup (yet), he may very well, and probably should go down as one of the greatest to ever play the game. But at the same time, he’s been caught multiple times boarding and charging vulnerable players with little to no consequences from the league, and quite frankly, I’m tired of it. He gets the star treatment like Crosby does. (Crosby literally partially chopped off another player’s finger with his stick and didn’t even get a phone call from the department of player safety). Caps fans don’t care. Caps fans just want Ovi to keep doing Ovi things. Well, if that includes putting another player in harms way, then yeah. Ovechkin cranked out 49 goals and sat for only 32 penalty minutes this season.

Alex Burrows of the Ottawa Senators. Now I realize Burrows is by no means an offensive force to be reckoned with, but he’s another dirty player that the league seems to turn a blind eye to. I think we’ll all never forget the biting incident in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals when he very clearly bit Patrice Bergeron’s finger. He received no fine or suspension for that by the way. Burrows can be found hitting players with the butt end of his stick, cross checking them into the boards, or sucker punching them after a whistle’s been blown. It happens time and time again, but fans seem to have their blinders on looking right at Marchand as he maybe injured a player trying to avoid a hit. This season, Burrows had 6 goals and 59 penalty minutes. By the way, he has 1,134 career penalty minutes.

Brendan Gallagher of the Montreal Canadiens. Gallagher reminds me almost too much of Marchand. Gallagher is small, fast, can score a boatload of goals, and bugs the hell out of every team he plays against. Gallagher might not exactly be the dirtiest player, but he certainly qualifies as a pest. He talks a big game on and off the ice, and makes a difference for Claude Juliens’ squad. This season Gallagher had 31 goals and 34 penalty minutes.

I realize I threw a few controversial names on this list. But they’re only controversial because a lot of them haven’t gotten penalized by the league like they should have, or the fans only focus on Brad Marchand and the Bruins. I also realize there are certainly more players I could have named, but these are the ones that stood out to me the most. Hate Marchand all you want, but you wish you had him on your team.

• Uncategorized