The Evolution of Brad Marchand

Marchy, the little ball of hate, the rat. Brad Marchand has many nicknames and all of them have certainly been earned in one way or another. Marchand has gone from rookie pest to prominent goal scorer since being drafted into the NHL, and has become a crucial part of the Bruins line up. Brad Marchand was drafted by the Boston Bruins in the 3rd round of the 2006 NHL entry draft with their 71st overall pick. He played about 20 games his rookie year with very little ice time and no goals to show for it, however he did have 1 assist which earned him his first and only NHL point, at the time. Marchy also racked up 20 penalty minutes in 20 games in his rookie year which would prompt a minors visit for most coaches for a season or two but Julien saw some fight in Marchand and he was back on the Boston bench the next season.

Marchand played a few seasons with the Bruins AHL minor league team, the Providence Bruins, before being drafted in 2006. He caught the eye of Peter Chirelli, the Bruins GM at the time, after having success at the minor league level and the Bruins decided it was time to give him a shot with the big boys. Now Marchy was no Auston Matthews or Patrick Kane and it took him some time to adjust to the speed and physicality of the highest level of hockey. However this wasn't hard for Marchand to do due to his feisty and fearless play style that was responsible for him getting noticed in the first place. Standing at only 5'9 and weighing in at 181 pounds Marchand is definitely not the biggest guy in the league but he's got one of the biggest hearts. If you were to survey 100 Bruins fans I'd put money that at least 95 of them would tell you that they'd hate Marchand if he wasn't playing for the black and gold. Even former teammate, and beloved Florida tough guy, Shawn Thornton was quoted as saying "If Marchy wasn't on my team I'd kick his ass" which prompted a charismatic,and smug, smirk out of Marchand. Being one of the smaller guys has noticeably molded Marchy's personality on the ice, laying the big hit, taking the body, jabbing and face washing after the whistle. It's not uncommon that whenever there's a crowd forming around the goals after the whistles blown, and blood starts boiling and tempers flare, that the little ball of hates right at the center of it or the one that started the whole thing. Some names that come to mind when thinking of some player comparisons to Bostons favorite little pest are players like Montreals Brendan Ghallager (a good friend of Marchands), Sean Avery, Steve Ott, Mike Riberio, and Matthew Barnaby. Now before everyone goes up and arms and I start getting hate comments and my credibility questioned, I'm comparing play styles with those players. Not skill level or class or anything along those lines. When you think of players like Ott or Barnaby or Avery, I think for most hockey fans at least, you think "I hate that guy" or "he's the worst" and they're just the type of players that are there solely to get under the oppositions skin and try and draw penalties. Now the difference between Marchand and these players is the skill level. And that's where the evolution of Brad Marchand begins.

Marchand has evolved into a major piece of the puzzle in Boston and established himself as an in-expendable player in the Bruins lineup. He's transformed from rookie pest to an all-star caliber forward and is now a feared offensive threat on the ice. Marchand is having a fantastic season this year after coming off a career season last year in which he scored 37 goals in 77 games. Marchy's tallied 26 goals through 59 games this year along with 34 assists which is 11 more assists then he had all of last year. His offseason training has clearly gone to good use because he's showcased some amazing and improved stick handling this year and ability to hold the puck and evade stick checks and big hits. Marchands drive and love for the game and city has been and integral part of his drastic improvement as a player and the effort has shown on the ice. Marchand's multiple suspensions and fines have branded him with a reputation of being a dirty player and unfortunately it's hard to argue against it. While he's not as dirty as players like Raffi Tores and Matt Cooke, he's definitely got a lack of self discipline that needs improvement. He's been repeatedly suspended and fined for illegal hits and his biggest problem, slew footing. Marchand has 3 separate slew footing incidents which has landed him in hot water with lots of players in the league. If Marchy can clean up his act and really take advantage of his skill set and arsenal full of weapons he has then he really could go down as one of the Bruins greats. No city loves a pest more then Boston but with that love for a pest, Boston is a city that demands class and fighting fair and Marchand fights fair but he's got a dirty side. I really do believe that Marchand can learn to control his play and still remain that antagonizer that the TD faithful have grown to love. Love him or hate him you can't deny that Brad Marchand has made massive strides since joining the league and at only 28 he's still got plenty of time to improve and get even better and eventually go down in Bruins history for generations to come.