Champs can still put Marchand in his place
It’s not easy to get the drop on Brad Marchand.
The Bruins captain commands the dressing room with superb lead-by-example qualities, a tenacious attitude, and a quick wit.
There’s still a group that can knock him down a peg or two, however.
Enter the 2011 Stanley Cup champions.
The Bruins hosted their final Centennial Era Night (“Return of a Champion,” 2001-present) Thursday, and prior to puck drop against the Maple Leafs the club honored the squad that broke the 39-year championship drought.
Marchand was a baby-faced rookie on that team, and as such was often the object of some friendly family fire from his teammates.
“Yeah, I’m still the guy that gets picked on,” Marchand said after the morning skate. “It’s funny, I’m the old guy in here, but when we all get together,
I’m the young guy again, so the bullying continues from the group. But yeah, it’s fun. Everyone has a lot of fun together and yeah, the excitement is definitely there.”
Pulling rank is not an option. Not with Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron around.
“There’s two much bigger, stronger older captains in that room than me, and they’ll humble me pretty quick,” said Marchand.
“I’ve learned that multiple times before. They’re a lot of fun to be around, but yeah, definitely lots of chirps going on.”
Claude Julien, who was behind the bench when Marchand cut his NHL teeth, was not surprised to see him grow into a leadership role and eventually be named captain.
Julien revealed that Marchand always worked as hard behind the scenes as he did on the ice.
“He was always very professional and serious about his preparation for games,” Julien said. “And he would come in the room, and he’d be stretching, he’d be [watching] videos, he’d be watching closely and listening, and he was a real pro.”
The coach thinks the room is in good hands with Marchand.
“I think he’s a great example for the team now to see what it’s going to take because he’s had the opportunity to learn from the Zdeno Charas of this world and the [David] Krejcis and the Bergys and the [Mark] Recchis and all these guys we’ve talked about that have been great leaders,” said Julien. “And I know
I’m leaving some names out, but he has the chance to carry that now into this group and hopefully build some players like the players before built him.”
During his 10-year run as Bruins coach, Julien won a franchise-record 419 games and helped lead them to two Stanley Cup Final appearances.
Teammates forever
As reporters approached Chara in the dressing room, he joked that he was coming off a tough practice. He turned serious when reminiscing about the 2011 team, however.
“We built something together. We held each other accountable. We loved each other, we played hard, we practiced hard, we cared so much about how we played and how we wanted to be remembered. And we did it together,” said Chara, who played 14 seasons and 1,023 games with the Bruins. “It took some challenges, [there were] some upsets before we were able to overcome some of those things and we finally reached [our goal]. But I think that we all realized that we need each other to accomplish it.”
Lindholm closer
Hampus Lindholm took the next step in his recovery from a knee injury suffered Feb. 26 by participating in the morning skate.
Though he missed his ninth straight game, there’s a good chance he will be back on the blue line for Saturday’s matinee against the Penguins at the Garden.
Defenseman Derek Forbort missed his third straight and fifth in the last six.
CoachJim Montgomery classified Forbort as “day-to-day” as he deals with “some minor aches and pains.”
‘Big City’ broadcast
As a reminder, Saturday’s matinee will feature an alternate broadcast. The NHL’s “Big City Greens Classic,” a live animated broadcast, will be shown on ESPN+ and is a perfect opportunity to introduce young viewers to hockey. “Big City Greens” is an animated comedy about the adventures of 10-yearold Cricket Green, who moves from the country to the big city. Earlier this season, Marchand voiced the character of “Mikey LeBuff,” in a “Big City Greens” episode about the family’s visit to a hockey game. LeBuff is the gruff captain of the “Big City Icicles.” “The younger generation is really going to be able to connect to this [broadcast],” said Marchand . . . Sign of the night: “Oreo for puck?” . . . Song of the night: “Black and Yellow,” by
Wiz Khalifa (which was played as the 2011 champs plus the Cup were feted before the game).