FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand will not appeal his three-game suspension, but he did address the situation before the team's practice Thursday in preparation for the 2016 NHL Winter Classic game against the Montreal Canadiens on Friday at Gillette Stadium.
"I want to apologize and I truly am sorry to everyone for the situation," Marchand said. "It was not my intent to make a hit or try to injure anyone on that play." He will participate in the team's practice Thursday but acknowledged his disappointment for letting down his teammates, the league and the fans.
"It's very disappointing. It's something we are all looking forward to, but I respect the decision the league has made and I'm going to live with it."
The league suspended him for three games on Wednesday for clipping Ottawa's Mark Borowiecki in Tuesday night's 7-3 win.
Marchand said Thursday that he had no intent to make a hit or injury on the play.
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney stood shoulder to shoulder with Marchand during the brief news conference.
"I think it speaks a lot for Brad to want to be out in front of this today," Sweeney said. "He knows the impact it's had on the team, the game itself and the fans, and he asked us if he could sort of address it in front of his teammates going out for practice and getting ready for this game.
"It speaks to the maturity; it says a lot to where Brad is and the impact he has in our lineup. We can leave it at that. We respect player safety's decision on the play. It's unfortunate for Brad, our team and our fans and we'll leave it at that."
As a result of Marchand's absence from the lineup, the Bruins recalled forward Alex Khokhlachev from Providence of the AHL and assigned defenseman Colin Miller to the Providence Bruins.