I'm guessing it might have something to do with the 12 games over the last four years for which he's been suspended and the resultant reputation he owns.
that reputation really effected his teammates last year and killed any chance the team had of a successful season. when Bergeron was getting hurt.... or when rask was struggling... or McAvoy was out... the team just crashed and burnt because marchand could do nothing during those stretches of hockey to carry the team due to his horrible reputation
he certainly couldn't play a role in elevating his linemates either to elite status.
are you saying that outsider voters for the award will let a bias effect their voting? yeah I can see that. I think it has at least as much to do with the rather ill-informed ignorance than anything else. I mean Ovechkin does suspension worthy behavior all the time but the 'respect' he has results in operations turning a blind eye to him. hes deamed to valuable to suspend despite all the injuries he gives to guys with his questionable hitting choices.
marchand at this point and time doesn't even need to be on the ice when an incident happens and everyone is trying to blame him for it.
does it hurt the team? honestly I didn't see any pain on the team last year. they seemed to ride his rocket if you ask me. we had way more critical injury problems then anyone not named Anaheim but those injuries didn't slow us down for a moment once marchand got into second gear.
they give taylor hall the mvp and point out no one else on his team scored nearly as many points as him... calling him a one man show. aren't mvps suppose to make their team better? shouldn't an mvp be able to help his linemates score?
Bergeron and pastrnak are ppg studs when they get to play with marchand. riley nash is a ppg stud when he gets to play with marchand.
at quant hockey I looked at bergerons point production over 8 years... over 10 years... and hes pretty consistent. hes a 55 point guy on average. over 5 years...
and then marchand entered this zone hes been on and Bergeron is suddenly a ppg player too. we want to give Bergeron all the credit for it because hes the respectable guy... the classy guy... the guy we don't have to feel shame for supporting. don't get me wrong Bergeron is the best defensive forward ive ever seen and hand a wicked shot that lets him be a 30 goal scorer.
but Bergeron isn't close to a ppg player when marchand isn't around. marchand meanwhile doesn't slow down a step when its Bergeron out with the injury.
marchand takes more cheap shots... more dirty play... then anyone ive seen since the days of the broad street bullies mugging their opposition. hes not a big guy. you can say that his aggravating style has put the target on him... and yes it has
but theres NEVER any discipline by the hockey operations against anyone that goes dirty after marchand. his numberous head shots hes taken NEVER get suspended. this guy could have an amazing legacy to leave behind if hes allowed to finish his career but with all the DIRTY HITS he is hammered with, how likely is that?
I cant blame him if he has become hyper sensitive to guys taking runs at him and sometimes goes low to get out of the way of the next head shot aimed towards him. if he gets his elbows up when guys are trying to smear him into the ice.
its chicken and the egg I suppose... and yes, he does play on the edge... he does aggravate... he does little cheap shot antics
does it hurt the team though? do his teammates feel they must hand their head in shame and not compete because of what hes doing?
or...
does he throw the other team off its game with his antics? do they play less good when they are running around trying to kill him? does it help his team win more games when he gets in their grill? did it throw Vancouver off its game some during our cup run? were they so preoccupied with marchand that their game just went sideways?
to me... its a shame he didn't win mvp last year. and to me theres no way he wasn't the best player in the nhl. McDavid might {might} be the more exciting skater... and did slightly outscore marchand… but marchand was many many times the more complete player and scored enough big game changing goals in meaningful games that theres simply no contest who the best player in the world is right now between these 2.
I think our fans are missing the boat not getting more vocal about this
its like when cam neely was scoring 50 goals in like 44 games... does anyone even remember that? we let the narrative be that neely was injury prone. we let outsiders say neely shouldn't be in the hof. the guy has the second fastest run to 50 goals in history {unless maybe gretzky got there twice in less games I don't have the record list in front of me and im going from memory}
between 1991 and 1994 cam neely had 70 goals in 71 games.. a goal per game pace for 3 seasons.
his all round game is MILES above brett hull or mike bossey… but do bruin fans passionately defend his place in history the way we should? he is the poster boy for an entire new class of hockey players... the power forward... which he basically created... but when people say he shouldn't be in the hall of fame do we raise the right arguments to defend this guy?
I feel... a bit disappointed with how many bruin fans are trying to crap on marchands greatness now by dwelling on the suspensions. Philadelphia fans never crapped on bobby clark. when he broke that Russians leg they made him a national hero. gordie howe fans never crapped on his for being mr elbows. they said... get howe mad at you and just wait... you will never see it coming... he will wait until you least suspect it and give you an elbow to the head
people say... times have changed... I guess they have... a lot of fans cant stand by their warriors anymore. cant be loyal to their country for right or wrong. cant love their wife for better or worst.
if we must condemn marchand for his suspensions... ok... but at least acknowledge that when he isn't under suspension he is currently the most impactful player on the ice in the world. he has to be in that conversation for mvp and if you end up not voting for him because of the suspension then so be it... but he has to be in the conversation
