Sports: Brad Marchand Embroiled in Licking Controversy
(Photo Credits: Screengrab from SPORTSNET YouTube)
Netizens and media alike are asking: was Brad Marchand out of bounds? If you have no idea what I am talking about, we are referring to last weekend’s incident where NHL player Brad Marchand licked his opponent—Ryan Callahan’s—face. Callahan plays for Tampa Bay Lightning while Marchand plays for Boston Bruins. Needless to say, the kissing/licking affair has put Marchand in hot water. Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of the incident, “There’s absolutely no place in our game for that. I don’t understand it.”
Preach Kelly Hrudey!
Marchand is gross!#TBLvsBOS pic.twitter.com/5wXDF4kIZr — HockeyHighlights (@HILITINGHOCKEY) May 5, 2018
On Saturday, NHL took to Twitter to announce that Marchand’s actions were unacceptable and that if anything similar is to happen in the future, then he will be disciplined.
NHL’s Colin Campbell spoke with Boston’s Brad Marchand and GM Don Sweeney today. The League put the player on notice that his actions last night are unacceptable and similar behavior in the future will be dealt with by way of supplemental discipline.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 5, 2018
This was not the first time that Marchand has kissed or licked another player during a match. Last month, he also kissed Toronto Maple Leafs’ Leo Komarov. Take a look at the particular moment below.
Brad Marchand is just trying to show Leo Komarov how much he loves the #StanleyCup playoffs 💋 pic.twitter.com/wLLARBs60z
— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) April 13, 2018
When asked about the incident, Marchand told the reporters that Komarov is “cute.”
What is it about Komarov that makes you want to cuddle with him? Brad Marchand: “He’s cute.” pic.twitter.com/bZ4hJgNIq4
— Mark Dunphy (@m_b_dunphy) April 13, 2018
Some fans thought it was hilarious for having done something unexpected to the point that the opponent didn’t know how to react while others were saying it was sexual harassment. But former hockey player Brock McGillis called it homophobic. “By kissing a player and saying it’s because he’s cute, Brad Marchand is using sexuality as a means to get under an opponent’s skin,” said McGillis in an interview. “A man kissing a man followed up by his comments makes it homophobic.”
McGillis went on to say that he agrees with Lightning coach Jon Cooper; he also added that this incident is a setback to the LGBT community in sports. “Fans are referring to it as disgusting, which (is what) an unwanted lick is,” McGillis said. “But the fact that sports news will be continuously showing a man kissing or licking another man in a negative light will set our community back in our attempt to find a place in male team sports.”
What makes this more unacceptable, they say, is the fact that NHL appointed Marchand as Bruins’ ambassador to the LGBTQ community these past two years. Going back to the original question, was Marchand out of bounds? Is this incident, as OutSports call it, homophobic and a disappointment? Should he be fined or suspended? Or is it, as some fans pointed out, hilarious? Share with us your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
It’s essentially an assault under the law. He deserves suspension, a fine, and charges filed. He should not get special consideration for being the gay ambassador–whatever in hell that’s supposed to mean.
He can lick me any time — as long as he’s in his hockey uniform!
I guess everyone would be OK with him if he just slugged him instead.
I don’t think it’s hilarious at all. It’s disgusting and if I were the one he did that to I think I would punch him right in his fucking mouth. And I’m gay. Disgusting jerk.
Ah duh. Cause they’re fucking.. the whole of all the entertainment business is ran by those fuckers. See how the host was laughing. They all know and they all know not to act indifferent to it either. He’s tired and ready to let his feelings out. He wants the world to know. You’d be blown away, literally, if you saw the things these teams do Together.
I love it! So much better….and hotter than punching each other out. What a kick to see a lick or a kiss between two athletes!
Please stop with making everything in the world about the lgbt. I come on this site to see sexy men and hear uplifting stories. But all this site puts out as news is usually the kind that angers, saddens, or just makes me shake my head.
As a gay hockey player I can say I doubt brad was thinking “hey, let’s make a mockery of the lgbt community. Shit happens on the ice. It happens so fast and furious you do not register it till later. Your out there in a setting unlike every other sport where every moment of gameplay is directed at destroying you.
For all you know that other player has been taunting him in a way where marchion thought the best way to get his goat would be to lick him.
Not saying it’s right, but it certainly is not as big a deal that it is being made out to be. I mean, in wrestling checking someones oil is a pretty regular cheap illegal move. But I don’t here you crying about that. And that is ten times more homophobic and disgusting.
Please stop with all the retarded nonsense. If you want to try and win a Pulitzer go work for an actual publication. Until then realize what site you work for and show us sexy guys and talk about sex on the beach. Enough with trying to make the news section of a hookup site serious…
Agreed Matt. Brad Marchand hasn’t said he’s gay and I didn’t find any gay-related discussion other than him saying he thought gay players would be accepted in hockey. So I, too, raised an eyebrow about why his antics are posted here.
But it is a welcome relief from topics about divas and life’s ups and downs for actors and other media personalities … about which guys here have expressed little interest.
Amen, Matt.
Preacher Matt
I have to somewhat agree with Matt. As a die-hard hockey fan, it’s a known fact that every team has it’s ‘goon’ or 2–those guys whose role is to pick fights and do whatever else is needed to get under the skin and into the heads of the other team. And as a die-hard gay guy, I agree with Matt that it’s very doubtful Marchand acts in ways that are premeditated to target, belittle or demean the LGBTQ+ community. It’s the playoffs, emotions are high, and it wasn’t helping that the Lightning were stomping the Bruins in the series (I was at the game where the licking occurred). So while it’s certainly bizarre, kinda gross, and totally unsportsmanlike, to try to make it into a huge ‘gay issue’ seems a bit ‘reaching.’ Best to stick to other topics in this column.
That hockey player looks like a horny slime ball that wants to get into those guys pants. Not professional at all! He’s a sick pervert using his hokey player status to get away with it! Sexual harrasment! That’s what it is! And please don’t speak for us as a gay ambassador you horny creep!
Can you say sexually conflicted in a moment of intense competition seeking to show dominance in bed?
So why didn’t Callahan pull away or whack Marchand with his, pardon the pun, stick? MMM sounds like somebody liked that tongue?
Marchand’s licking behavior could mean several things, including that he just a straight guy who is not threatened by homosexuality. Now, there is also the possibility that he is gay, and his first steps of coming out are to be the LGBT ambassador and to lick his opponents. The only thing that is obvious, though, is that he licks the opposite team as an aggressive, offensive taunt. He shows a pattern of going beyond the pale to dominate the competition. He is a nasty player.
What I like about Marchand’s oral fixation is that he gets people talking about homosexuality. To those who worry that this could only be a setback for gay people, I say: have more confidence in your ability to discern what is positive about sexuality and what is ferocious in human nature. Work on accepting yourself as much as Marchand accepts himself.