Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand has evolved from being an obnoxious agitator to one of the best players in the National Hockey League.
Boston Bruins fans love Brad Marchand. Most other fan bases don’t. Marchand has been the kind of player that could get under another team’s skin and cause havoc during a game. While that part of his game is still there, he’s evolved into one of the top wingers in the NHL.
Marchand’s elite status was confirmed when Team Canada called Marchand to play in the 2016 World Cup. Marchand validated Team Canada’s trust by putting in five goals in six games at the tournament. He was second in overall points behind Sidney Crosby (and should have won the MVP, but that’s another argument for another day).
Marchand put in the winning shorthanded goal with under a minute in regulation to give Team Canada its World Cup win. His performance at the World Cup showed that Marchand was ready to step out on the world stage. If the NHL can figure out some way to allow their players to play in the 2018 Olympics, Marchand will be a shoo-in for the Canadian Olympic team.
“Just having the opportunity to play at that level was a huge honor,” shared Marchand after his first Bruins practice on Monday morning. “Going into that tournament, I didn’t know where I was going to be in the lineup – and it didn’t matter. I just wanted to be a part of that team and enjoy everything that went with it.
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“Playing with Bergy and Sid was a huge opportunity. They’re two of the best players in the world, very dominant at every level. You saw that again in this tournament.”
Brad Marchand wants to be a career member of the Boston Bruins organization. Marchand might get that dream to come true, thanks to his current contract. He’ll be locked up until he’s 37 years old. Naturally, Boston’s ‘Little Ball of Hate’ is thrilled to stay with the Bruins.
“That was always something I had expressed to them, and they told me I would have the opportunity to do it. Obviously things will have to line up even still. In this game I don’t think anybody is safe at any point in time,” offered Marchand on his career with Boston.
“But to retire here would be a dream come true. There are very few players that play their whole career with one team nowadays, especially in the cap era it’s a lot tougher. There’s still a long way to go. There’s nine years left, but hopefully I do get to that point.”’
A certain amount of Marchand’s success has come with the help of his longtime teammate Patrice Bergeron. Bergy is certainly pleased to see Marchy get his due with his new contract (as well as his acclaim on the world stage of hockey).
“It was well deserved,” said Bergeron. “He just carried over what he last year…he was amazing . Even after he signed that deal, he kept scoring some huge goals and gave us that game-winner in the finals.
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“That’s just who he is. He steps up in big moments and it was just great to see.”