Brad Marchand. (AP)

Bruins forward Brad Marchand made his weekly appearance on Mut & Merloni Friday afternoon to discuss his criticism of Canadians fans and his father’s role in keeping him stable after the Stanley Cup last summer, among other things.

After Canadiens fans cheered Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara getting hit in the face with a puck in the Bruins’ 4-3 win Wednesday, Marchand was publicly outspoken about the fans’ reaction. To him, it was a disrespectful move that is never justified in sports, no matter what teams are playing.

“Anytime a guy gets hurt, you have to respect the fact that he’s out there doing his job, trying to make a living,” Marchand said. “It’s a dangerous sport, it’s a dangerous game and when people are cheering…if he takes a puck in the throat, it could have been a really bad situation. The fact that they were cheering when he got hurt, it’s just embarrassing.”

Marchand has found himself in the news recently for his off-the-ice actions, as he revealed in a recent Sports Illustrated interview that he was too drunk to appear in the Bruins’ commemorative championship DVD. He admitted that he had too much fun in the aftermath of winning the Stanley Cup, but that his father was a crucial figure in helping him stay in line.

“He sat me down after a while and was actually really upset with me, just like, ‘You’re taking it too far, you’ve only won it one time. I don’t want you to win it once, I want you to win it three or four [times],’” Marchand said. “So he said, ‘If you win two Cups in the next three years, I’ll leave you alone and let you celebrate and party the way you want to.  He said, ‘Until then, I’m going to be all over you until you do it again.’ I like the challenge.” Read the rest of this entry »

When Bruins coach Claude Julien frustratingly declared Tuesday that he was “done talking about” Nathan Horton‘s progress after he was supposed to have skated Sunday, something seemed fishy. As it turns out, Horton has indeed had a setback.

Julien said after Friday’s practice that Horton did not react well to skating earlier this week, and is “back to square one” in his recovery from his latest concussion.

“He’s been pulled back,” Julien said. “He’s got some symptoms, so we pulled him back. That’s why I said as far as for me to come out every and [say there's a] step forward, a step backward. He’s back to square one and we’re giving him some time here. Those symptoms, once he got back on the ice, came back.”

Horton rode the stationary bike late last week and took to the ice on Sunday, but when symptoms returned, the team pulled the first-line winger back.

Horton suffered his second concussion since June on a hit from Philadelphia’s Tom Sestito on Jan. 22. His concussion has kept him out of the last six games.

WILMINGTON — Bruins coach Claude Julien offered no update on the condition of forward Nathan Horton, who resumed skating recently after suffering his second concussion since June.

“Guys, protocol is protocol,” Julien said when asked about Horton. “When you see him on the ice with us, he’s moving in the right direction.”

Julien was then asked another question about how Horton feels since skating, and the coach went into detail as to why he’s staying quiet on the matter.

“Guys, I’m done talking about it,” Juien said. “I look at every team that has guys with concussions, and guys, you’ve got to give him a chance to let him go through the things. I can’t give you an update every day on this guy because it could be long, it could be short. When you see him on the ice with us, it’s going to be a really good sign, so we’ll leave it at that. I don’t have the answer, so I’m not going to give you an answer. We don’t know what concussions are all about. There’s forward steps, there’s backwards steps. I can’t just come out here every day and give you guys an update, because it doesn’t make sense.”

Horton was injured in the Bruins’ 6-5 shootout win over the Flyers on Jan. 22 on a hit from Philadelphia forward Tom Sestito. There was no discipline from the league on the play.

Bruins forward Nathan Horton is progressing in his recovery from the concussion he suffered last month, as coach Claude Julien told reporters prior to Saturday’s game that the right wing rode the stationary bike for the first time on Friday.

Horton has not played since being hit by Flyers forward Tom Sestito on Jan. 22. It his second concussion since last June, as he suffered a severe concussion in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals.

The Bruins also recalled forward Jordan Caron, though Julien told reporters the 2009 first-round pick will not be in the lineup Saturday.

Caron has been sent to the AHL six times this season, and in 17 games, he has four goals and nine assists for 13 points. The 21-year-old has been hot of late, with two goals and an assist over his last three games.

Bruins coach Claude Julien said after the team’s morning skate Thursday that forward Nathan Horton has not progressed this week in his recovery from his latest concussion, and still is not riding the stationary bike.

“He’s still where he was a few days ago,” Julien said. “Feeling better, but not well enough right now to get to that stage of working out.”

Horton suffered the injury on Jan. 22, when he was hit by Flyers forward Tom Sestito. The play was not reviewed by the league, and Sestito was not fined or suspended for the hit.

The concussion is Horton’s second since June. Horton was famously blindsided by Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome in the first period of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals last season. He missed the rest of the postseason with the concussion.

WILMINGTON — Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid was not on the ice as the team returned to practice Wednesday at Ristuccia Arena.

McQuaid played 14:39 in Tuesday’s 4-3 win over the Senators Tuesday, but suffered a lower-body injury after catching a rut late in the third period.

Coach Claude Julien said that McQuaid came back to the bench “a little shaken up” after the play. The team hopes McQuaid can return to the ice Thursday against the Hurricanes, but it seems the defenseman’s status is up in the air.

“He got injured last night, so we just felt that it was better to keep him off the ice today,” Julien said after Wednesday’s practice. “We’ll reevaluate his situation tomorrow morning.”

The Bruins will be getting defenseman Andrew Ference back from a three-game suspension Thursday, so in the event that McQuaid is unable to go, the B’s would not need to call a defenseman up from Providence. In 42 games this season, the 25-year-old blueliner has two goals and five assists for seven points and a plus-16 rating.

Nathan Horton (concussion) was the only other player missing from practice.

Bruins forward Nathan Horton was not on the ice as the team returned from the All-Star break Monday. Horton has been dealing with his second concussion since June after taking a hit to the head from Flyers’ forward Tom Sestito on Jan. 22.

Coach Claude Julien said that Horton is still experiencing symptoms, and that the team doesn’t expect the symptoms to subside for at least three days, meaning he will not play Tuesday against the Senators, and will likely also miss Thursday’s game against the Hurricanes.

“He is getting better, but so we can save you guys a lot of trouble of asking every day, at least not for three days. … He’s still at the point where he hasn’t ridden the bike yet, but he is getting better.”

With Horton not practicing, forward Rich Peverley took his place on the team’s top line with David Krejci and Milan Lucic Monday.

In 46 games played this season, Horton has 17 goals and 15 assists for 32 points and an even rating.