The NHL Playoffs may be played on the ice, but teams aren’t just trying to score more goals than their opponents, they’re also trying to get into their heads. Sometimes it happens naturally when a goalie is on a roll and becomes unbeatable in the mind of the other team’s players, think Jaroslav Halak during the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins series in the spring of 2010. Other times, psychological warfare happens in the media where players try to steal the show with the quote of the day, think Patrick Roy after being provoked by Jeremy Roenick. Reporters told the Avalanche goaltender what Roenick had said about him:
I’d like to know where Patrick was in Game 3, probably up trying to get his jock out of the rafters.
Roy had just the right answer for the Blackhawks’ center even though his English wasn’t perfect back then:
I cannot really hear what Jeremy says because I got my two Stanley Cup rings plugging my ear.
Trash-talking is an art and it’s never easy to strike the perfect balance, you want to unsettle the opponent, but you do not want to motivate them. Talk to former Quebec Nordiques’ goalie coach Daniel Bouchard who, in the first round of the 1993 Playoffs and after Quebec had taken a 2-0 lead in the series, famously said he had found a flaw in Roy’s game (from ‘Winning and Nothing Else‘, Les Éditions Libre Expression, page 338, 2007). Quebec lost the next four games while the Canadiens would go on to win the franchise’s 24th Stanley Cup. Bouchard shouldn’t have poked the bear there…
Marchand the Super Pest
Last night in Boston’s win over the Maple Leafs, Brad Marchand had a great game scoring two goals and adding an assist to his tally, but after scoring the Bruins’ fourth goal into an empty net, he skated by the Maple Leafs’ bench and declared while approaching the Bruins’ bench:
It’s going to be over in five!
Did Brad Marchand just say “It’s over in 5”??? @MapleLeafs @BizNasty2point0 This is the turning point. Let’s use it as fuel. Not losing another game in this series pic.twitter.com/JaRBq9MdD4
— JS (@leafsfanJS) April 25, 2024
This coupled with Marchand’s offensive production in the game and his antics to get under the Maple Leafs’ skin ensured the Bruins’ captain got right into the Maple Leafs’ heads.
Marchand even managed to occupy a space in Sheldon Keefe’s postgame presser. Toronto’s bench boss couldn’t get his mind around how the super pest can skate around and get away with so much. For him, Marchand’s been in the league for so long that he not only gets the calls when something is done to him, but he’s also perfected the art of getting away with what he does himself. There you have it, Marchand now lives in the Leafs’ pilot’s head rent-free.
"He gets calls… it's unbelieveable, actually… it's an art, he's elite at it."
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 25, 2024
Sheldon Keefe speaks on Brad Marchand's antics. pic.twitter.com/0HXbnrWOuJ
The Perfect Source of Motivation
Who in the Maple Leafs’ room will make a stand and use Marchand to motivate his team? Seeing the GIF of Marchand saying “It will be over in five” should be enough to light a fire under the Leafs. Now’s the time for Toronto players to show they’re not soft and can push back when provoked. The pushing back doesn’t even have to be in kind, they can just jump on the ice for Game 4 and make Marchand eat his words.
Related: League Reprimanding Marchand: Click Bait or Lick Bait
In the playoffs, teams need to find a way to motivate themselves, winning the Stanley Cup should be enough, but sometimes they need extra motivation. Think about the Avalanche’s Mission 16W in 2001, Colorado was on a mission to finally win a Stanley Cup for Ray Bourque. The defenseman had been in the league for 21 years without ever raising the hardest trophy to win in sports over his head. Not so long ago, in 2019, the St. Louis Blues won the Cup using Laila Anderson as their motivation. The 11-year-old girl was fighting for her life because of an auto-immune disease, and the Blues were her favourite team. She became the team’s lucky charm and after being dead last in the standings in January, the Blues went on to win the Cup.
Wanting to make Marchand eat his words might not be as noble a purpose, but considering the playoff history between the two sides, it should do just fine.