Brad Marchand slams NHL over 2025 All-Star game and tips players to boycott

24 February 2023 , 14:42

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Brad Marchand has called out three North American cities

Boston Bruins star Brad Marchand is used to being a villain on the road, but now the winger has personally called out Edmonton, Detroit and Seattle amid ongoing NHL All-Star discussions.

The NHL All-Star event is always a fun weekend, where the best talents across the league get together to showcase their skills. The 2023 edition was recently held in Florida, and the NHL have reportedly highlighted three different cities as frontrunners for the 2025 instalment.

Marchand has attended four All-Star games throughout his career, but is already claiming that the 2025 edition is set to be a disaster. Marchand has slammed the NHL for allowing three of the cities to be in with a shout, and has even claimed that players may "boycott" the event if anyone of the locations are chosen.

Following reports that Edmonton, Detroit or Seattle could be picked to host the event in 2025, Marchand posted on Instagram : "Lol, can't wait to see how many players boycott that game." Marchand's response was then posted on Twitter, and the Bruins star replied: "I mean, it's true."

His comments came just before the Bruins travelled to Seattle to play the Kraken, and some jeers could be heard when Marchand was in possession of the puck. He had the last laugh though, scoring and assisting in a thrilling 6-5 victory.

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Marchand then played down his antics online, as he told Fox News Digital: "It depends how serious they want to take some tweets. A lot of what I do on social media is all in good fun. I like to joke around, it’s not meant to be taken seriously.

"People do like to overreact these days, and I’m sure there will be some angry fans that thought I was being serious. But again, it was all in good fun."

Marchand is claiming to look out for players, families and fans

However, Marchand then couldn't help himself as he spoke out about it again, meaning there could be truth in his comments after all. "It’s not even for me," Marchand, added. "The chance of me being there is slim.

"But there’s a little bit of truth to that where if you want guys to want to be there and want to be a part of it and actually make it enjoyable, then make it enjoyable for them. Going to Edmonton in the middle of winter time, or Detroit, isn’t where those guys want to be when everyone else on their team is away enjoying their vacation or time with their families.

"No [player’s] family is going to want to come up here. Put it in places where guys want to be and make them want to be there, and they’ll make the game enjoyable. If not, then they’re going to be miserable while they’re there and try to get out of it certain ways.

"That’s all the fans want: They want to see the best players and enjoy them at the game. To do that, put them in places where guys want to be."

Joseph McBride