A marked man
Marchment claims 'victim' status in latest disciplinary action
By ROBERT TYCHKOWSKI -- Edmonton Sun

SAN JOSE-- He is the NHL's poster boy for crime and punishment.

He has been suspended, to the best of his knowledge, six times and fined untold thousands.

He's done time for blowing out Mike Modano's knee, for blowing out Joe Nieuwendyk's knee, and, surprise, for blowing out Kevin Dineen's knee.

When the NHL was trying to showcase its game in Japan, he stole the headlines with an ugly hitting-from-behind incident.

He was suspended last year for calling Vancouver's Donald Brashear a big monkey.

And he still gets hate mail from Dallas for all the Stars he sent hobbling to the training table as a member of the Oilers and then the San Jose Sharks.

But to hear Bryan Marchment tell it, he's the real victim in his latest brush with the law.

"As far as having a reputation goes, I never truly believed in all that stuff until this last suspension,'' said the Sharks defenceman, who returns to the lineup tonight against Edmonton after serving a three-game ban for spearing Anaheim's Paul Kariya.

"I've pretty much taken everything the NHL has given me, but I was little upset with this one.''

MULTI-TIERED SYSTEM

Marchment says there is a multi-tiered justice system in the NHL and it's just not fair.

"Kariya clubbed me, I had a goose egg over the eye,'' he said. "I'm not going to say I didn't want to hit him hard after that, because I did. I was mad. But I definitely had no intent to spear him or injure him. I just wanted to get the stick on him and drive him into the boards. I didn't even hurt him. I just caught his jersey. He didn't even go down.

"But the ref says, 'That's it, five and a game.' I didn't even say anything. I just skated off. I knew I was fried. I didn't even want to go to the hearing.''

A guy with an arms-length record spears one of the game's biggest drawing cards? Open-and-shut case. Kariya played the subsequent power play. Marchment got three games.

Sharks coach Darryl Sutter knows his guy is a marked man. When asked if Mush was playing tonight, Sutter said: "Unless there's something the NHL wants to review from practice.''

HE WAS ONLY HALF-JOKING.

"There's a huge difference in the rules,'' continued Sutter. "Keith Tkachuk cuts Miller from here to here, spear-chucks him in the face and gets two games. Bryan puts a rip in the little short guy's jersey and he gets three games.

"It has to be frustrating for him. When they say they're having a hearing, he knows they already have their minds made up."

It's ludicrous, of course, to suggest Marchment hasn't authored much of his own misfortune. The "I didn't mean to spear him'' defence looks a little thin if you've seen the tape. And his suspensions are longer than everybody else's, and should be longer than everybody else's because he's a repeat offender.

When you've blown out more knees than artificial turf, you should expect the maximum sentence.

But Marchment swears he's misunderstood. He says he's not one of the dirtiest guys in the league, somebody who wouldn't think twice about snapping your knee like a wishbone if given half a chance.

TOUGH? YES. DIRTY? NO.

"There were some incidents that were close calls and borderline,'' he said. "And there was a blatant knee (Dineen) that I took full credit for. And there was the Modano thing that I think was very, very borderline.

"But the last time I even had a kneeing penalty was three years ago. I've been trying like crazy not to do it.

"I feel bad if somebody gets injured. I don't want to see anybody get injured. But I want guys to know that I'm out there. If I'm going to hit them I want them to feel it.''

Marchment says he can live with it if people think he's dirty, but it bothered him greatly when he was branded a racist and suspended one game for calling Brashear a big monkey - the same name he's called a dozen other NHL tough guys who were trying for his scalp.

"I call everybody that,'' said Marchment, who's close friends with Calgary goalie Fred Brathwaite. "Anybody who knows me knows that I don't care about things like (race). That was a long day for me, a hard day.''

PAID TO DO A JOB

It wasn't the first and it won't be the last. That's the way it goes when you're Bryan Marchment.

But don't expect him to change.

"I'm getting paid well for what I do. I've done it my whole life, not just my NHL career. I've played the same way. I have to keep playing the same way. I can't let little distractions like this hurt me.

"When it comes down to it, all I really care about are my family, friends and the peers that I play with. And when I came here, more than half the team comes up and says, 'Holy (cow) did I hate you. I'm glad you're here.' ''