Bruins' Brad Marchand explains why he deleted Twitter account

It turns out Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand had a simple reason for why he deleted his popular Twitter account. 

"I’m not paying. I’m just not doing it, you’re not getting me," Marchand told reporters on Thursday, as shared by Lauren Willand of NESN. "I got an e-mail and they took my blue check mark away, and it’s a little easier to hack and they took my two-step verification away. So I said, 'you know what? I’m gonna get out now while I can.' And the last thing I need is someone hacking — I’m gonna get hacked now, watch — but if anything comes up it wasn’t me. I think they took (the blue check) away, I don’t know. I just thought that Twitter was making everybody pay for blue check marks. I got enough expenses, I can’t do that." 

Marchand has routinely generated headlines and laughs with his social-media activities. NBC News' Kevin Collier pointed out earlier this week that Twitter ended free two-factor authentication via text message that is meant to prevent accounts from being hacked. "Twitter Blue," which includes two-factor authentication via SMS, costs $8 per month or $84 per year. 

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has routinely embraced social media and technological blackouts ahead of postseason tournaments. 

The first-place Bruins are currently favorites to hoist the Stanley Cup this spring, but Marchand indicated the upcoming playoffs had nothing to do with his Twitter decision. 

"No, it’s strictly because I’m not paying for Twitter, I don’t care about Twitter that much to pay for it," he explained. "It’s fun to go on and have some fun every now and again but I’m not paying for it so I just deleted it." 

Marchand did admit that he will likely return to the service when he is "bored" and wants to "make fun of someone." 

One can only hope, because Marchand's battles with rival clubs and others helped make "Hockey Twitter" more fun for all involved.