Friedman: The league asked Marchand to stop licking people (or maybe it didn't)

Elliotte Friedman’s latest edition of 31 Thoughts came out earlier today. While a good portion of it was spent on the Leafs and the upcoming draft, he had a tidbit about the Bruins.

Boy, it’s a good one:

22. After Game 1 of the Toronto/Boston series, the Bruins got a, “We’d prefer if you could tell Brad Marchand to stop licking people” phone call from the NHL.

IT’S BEAUTIFUL.

Can you imagine listening in on that phone call? How awkward must that conversation have been?

“Hey Brad, it’s Gary.”

“Hey.”

“So, uh...good series so far.”

“Thanks.”

“So yeah, um...about the licking thing.”

“What?”

“You know, the licking thing.”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

“Please stop licking people.”

“Cool.”

THE END

In case you missed it, here’s the moment in question:

Brad Marchand should probably stop doing this, as he’s likely to get a penalty or suspension the next time he does something like this.

Still, the fact that the NHL made that phone call is pretty absurd.

UPDATE (9:49 AM): Brad doesn't think any of this actually happened.

THE PLOT THICKENS. It's entirely possible that Friedman was wrong. It's also possible that the league contacted the Bruins and they never passed the message along.

Either way, it's super weird and hilarious at the same time.