Copyright MassLive
BOSTON — Brad Marchand spent 16 seasons with the Bruins, two of them as a captain and several others as an alternate. He knows what it takes to be a leader having learned from Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron. But when he was traded to the Panthers in March, he had to learn a whole new locker room. He wasn’t looked at as someone who needed to be a leader. “I was just another guy kind of pulling the rope,” Marchand said Monday at TD Garden. “So it was a great opportunity for me to kind of sit back and see what everyone was doing. Not sit back, but just watch what other guys were doing, learn from them and be in a different room, different environment It was a nice opportunity to grow and it was obviously a new experience and you can learn a lot from that.” Marchand joined a Panthers team that included Matthew Tkahuck, Aleksander Barkov and Sergei Bobrovsky. Three months after the Bruins traded their captain and star forward, he was hoisting the Stanley Cup with his new team. The 37-year-old is in his first full season with the Panthers, but he was instantly impressed with how their locker room handled themselves when he arrived in March. “They have a phenomenal culture. Really impressed with the way things are done there,” Marchand said. “They are on a mission right now from ownership down to be the best and to exceed even what they accomplished last year.” The change also meant the first time Marchand was part of a different team. “I felt like I was learning. I have never been part of a different organization, so there’s a lot for me to learn,” he said. “When you’re in one area, you just learn what’s around you. It was a great learning opportunity for me to go in and see what their leadership group does and how they handle their day to day from top down. So I felt like I was learning more going there than what I was bringing to the table.” Marchand brings a lot to the table for the Panthers. With Tkachuk and Barkov both sidelined with injuries, the veteran forward can step in as more of a leader in their absences. He also brings grit, offense and is someone who isn’t afraid to toe the line of getting under his opponents skin. Just look at Saturday’s game when he ripped the straps off Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin’s helmet after Marchand retaliated a cross-check that went uncalled. Marchand fit right in with the Panthers despite being rivals over the years. Now he’ll try to help them snap a four-game losing streak against his former Bruins team when he returns to Boston on Tuesday night for the first time as a visitor.
