NHL Player Safety comes down on Brad Marchand.

The National Hockey League is cracking down on notorious Boston Bruins agitator Brad Marchand, and it's hard to argue that this time he hasn't brought it upon himself.

On Sunday night the Vancouver Canucks faced off against the Boston Bruins and it was during the course of that game that Marchand drew the ire of the disciplinary arm of the NHL. Marchand was engaged in a race or battle for the puck with veteran Canucks defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and during that exchange with Larsson, Marchand delivered a rather blatant slew-foot to the Canucks blue liner.

Unsurprisingly the league has now decided to offer Marchand a hearing for the slew-foot, and it sounds like he might be looking at a game or 2 for this particular infraction.

I don't think there's going to be a whole lot of wiggle room for Marchand here, not only does he have a reputation for playing on the edge in the NHL but the replay also makes his actions appear rather blant. This one angle in particular leaves little doubt that what Marchand did was intentional, as it appears he drives his leg into the back of Ekman-Larsson's legs in an effort to knock him off of his skates.

There's also reason for the league to look at a potential motive on the part of Marchand here, as the 2 men had been battling back and forth over the course of the game. Marchand laid a big hit on Ekman-Larsson behind the Canucks net in this one as well, and it may be fair to suggest that these two aren't very fond of one another.

In spite of having earned a reputation for himself early on in his career as a dirty player, or at the very least one that pushes the boundaries of the rules, Marchand has kept his nose clean as of late and doesn't often find himself in the crosshairs of Player Safety. As a result I suspect he will get off with a relatively mild punishment this time around.