Brad Marchand believes Abdelkader hit was accidental

Over the past fews days, the internet has been abuzz over who was to blame for the collision between Brad Marchand and Detroit's Justin Abdelkader Saturday night. While fans can debate back and forth over the incident, the fact of the matter is that no further disciplinary action has been taken against Abdelkader, and even Marchand himself believes it was an accident.

Photo via BostonHerald.com

We were both going to the slot and I didn’t see him. I don’t think he saw me till the last second. If I would have seen him, I probably would have ducked or jumped. He jumped. That’s just how it goes.

He did jump, for sure, there’s no doubt about it. But it’s a reaction thing, guys do things to protect themselves. That’s how it goes. I don’t think he intentionally tried to hurt me or anything like that.

Marchand holds no ill will towards his Red Wings opponent, but understands why there was concern with the hit. He is also all too familiar with being accused of a dirty hit himself. Marchand's last suspension stemmed from a hit on Sami Salo in January 2012, which resulted in a five game suspension.

After my last suspension, I definitely changed my game a bit.I don’t want to be in that situation again, but they are doing it for a good reason.

They want to protect guys and they’re trying to allow guys to have longer careers. The last thing you want to do is see somebody ruin their career by a cheap shot or something like that, so that’s all they’re trying to do there and I respect that.

Check out the video again beloew.