NHL, Brad Marchand deny reports he was asked to stop licking people

The National Hockey League and Brad Marchand denied reports Friday that the league had reached out to the Boston Bruins left wing to tell him to stop licking people.

“No, we did not contact the Bruins or Brad Marchand regarding this incident. It’s just not true,’’ Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement to the Globe Friday afternoon.

Marchand denied the report as well in a tweet Friday and told NBC Sports Boston that he had not been contacted by anybody from the league.

This is false

— Brad Marchand (@Bmarch63) April 27, 2018

The controversy arose after SportsNet and the Globe, citing SportsNet’s story, reported Thursday that “the Bruins got a, ‘we’d prefer if you could tell Brad Marchand to stop licking people’ phone call from the NHL.’’

ESPN reported later Thursday that it had separately confirmed the incident.

The source of the controversy came from an incident during Game 1 of the Bruins’ first-round playoffs series against Toronto, when Marchand pressed his mouth to the neck of Maple Leafs forward Leo Komarov in an attempt to disrupt Komarov’s game.

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Maple Leaf? #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/UFO1UFVO7Y

— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) April 13, 2018