SUNRISE, Fla. — Brad Marchand carries some regrets from his past, particularly regarding his time with the Boston Bruins, the team that drafted him in 2006 and where he played until recently. Winning a Stanley Cup with them in 2011 and serving as captain for the last two seasons after Patrice Bergeron`s retirement were significant moments. He became famous with Boston, accumulating 976 points in 1,090 games, but also gained notoriety as one of the NHL`s most effective agitators. He had always hoped to be a player who spent his entire career with one team, a rare feat in today`s constantly changing sports landscape.
Marchand regrets not getting a proper chance to say goodbye to the Boston fans before the NHL trade deadline. “I got hurt before I got traded. The last game I`ll ever play in a Bruins jersey was not the last game I thought I was ever going to play in a Bruins jersey,” he shared.
His final home game for Boston was a loss to the New York Islanders on February 27. His last game overall with the Bruins was on March 3 in Pittsburgh. The trade to the Florida Panthers happened on March 7, a consequence of contract disagreements with Boston management and the team`s decision to undergo a “retooling” phase.
During his first public appearance as a Panther, he struggled to hold back tears. “At the end of the day, I know the business is the business and everybody has a shelf life,” he commented. “I am grateful, beyond words, for everything that organization has done for me.”
Marchand also regrets not fully appreciating all the experiences he had while in Boston. “When you come to the rink, it can be stressful. You start overthinking things. There`s this pressure you sometimes put on yourself. You start stressing about things that you don`t need to stress about,” he explained. “I know that there are moments that I missed out on or didn`t really appreciate because I was stressing about other things.”
He cited the 2022-23 season as an example, when the Bruins set an NHL record with 135 regular-season points. The Panthers then surprisingly upset them in a seven-game first-round playoff series, ending Boston`s dominant season with a somber atmosphere at TD Garden. “We thought we were going to go to the finals that year. We thought we were going to win it all, and then we got pushed out in the first round,” Marchand recalled. “You start looking back at those moments and you realize you took all we did that season for granted because we were so worried about going to the finals. We weren`t living in the moment.”
These are the old regrets that the “new” Brad Marchand is trying to leave behind. The playoff disappointment, the split from the Bruins, and the trade were all significant shocks that shifted his perspective. “I`m just not going to do that to myself this time around,” he stated. “I`m coming to the rink every day just having fun and trying to live in the moment, not taking anything too seriously.”
His relocation to Florida triggered this change in mindset. “My family`s not here and I have a lot more time to sit home and think and go over things in my head than I normally do,” he said. “Being here, they talk about being in the moment. Just going day by day. About taking time to reflect on things and appreciate them.”
With this newfound approach, Marchand decided to simply enjoy his playoff run with the Panthers, who are back in the Stanley Cup Final, aiming for a second consecutive championship against the Edmonton Oilers, whom they defeated in Game 7 last season. “I`m literally just trying to have fun out there and have fun in here,” he said, gesturing towards the dressing room. “The Dairy Queen thing is a great example.”
The Dairy Queen Story
The now-famous “Dairy Queen thing” originated from an interview with Sportsnet reporter Kyle Bukauskas. Bukauskas asked Marchand about a team trip to Dairy Queen during the Eastern Conference finals in Raleigh. He then showed a clip of Marchand eating something with a spoon between periods during Florida`s Game 3 win and asked if he was “refueling with a Blizzard.”
Marchand enthusiastically praised the chocolate chip cookie dough Blizzard as “the best dessert in the world,” even jokingly pitching for a lifetime supply from DQ for the endorsement. “We had a little fun on the off day. There was a DQ by the hotel. We popped over and enjoyed our night,” Marchand clarified about the team outing.
The interview quickly went viral, with many fans and media outlets believing Marchand had been eating ice cream during the game. His teammates were questioned about it, as was Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice during his news conferences.
Days later, Marchand finally addressed the locker room eating specifically. “It wasn`t a Blizzard,” he said, with a tone implying the idea was absurd. “I was not eating a Blizzard in the middle of a game.”
He explained that he was referencing the team`s earlier Dairy Queen trip during the Sportsnet interview. “I was referencing that. I was making a joke about our excursion a couple of nights before. Just kind of making a joke off of it and I think people took it seriously,” he stated.
After the interview`s widespread circulation, Marchand`s phone was flooded with messages from people saying he inspired them to visit Dairy Queen. “I appreciate the support,” he said. “I love a good Blizzard more than anybody, but it`s not something I`ve had in the middle of the game.”
For many, the fascination wasn`t really about the ice cream itself, but how perfectly it fit the public perception of the unpredictable star winger. The image of the league`s most notorious agitator celebrating his on-ice antics with spoonfuls of cookie dough ice cream during intermission was strangely compelling.
However, it wasn`t ice cream, cookie dough, or peanut butter. Marchand eventually revealed he was caught on camera consuming “something healthy.” “It was honey. I was having honey. It was a spoonful of honey.”
When asked if it was because he`s sweet, he responded, “Because I`m a bear.”
Marchand shared that he`s always liked honey. “Actually, when I was growing up, I loved Winnie the Pooh. So I used to have a Winnie the Pooh [doll] and I used to feed the bear honey. So it was covered with honey and would get rock hard,” he recounted, adding, “I don`t think [my parents] enjoyed cleaning up the mess. But I had fun.”
Marchand paused for comedic effect before delivering the punchline: “It`s what we do in Halifax. We feed teddy bears honey.” This drew laughter from reporters.
Transformation and Leadership
It remains striking to consider Marchand`s journey from the start of his NHL career to where he is today. When the Bruins won the Cup in 2011, Marchand was a fiery 23-year-old winger whose emerging offensive talent was often overshadowed by his controversial on-ice behavior. memorable incidents included his repeated punches to Vancouver Canucks winger Daniel Sedin`s face in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final without officials intervening. Asked why he kept punching Sedin, Marchand famously replied, “Because I felt like it.”
He was also the player who got a misspelled tattoo after the 2011 Cup win. In an ESPN player diary, he explained, “Let me clear something up. After we won, a bunch of us got tattoos here in the dressing room of the Garden. Mine originally was misspelled. Instead of saying Stanley Cup Champions it said `Stanley Cup Champians.` I don`t even know how that happened.” (The error was corrected before the next season.)
Marchand became known for racking up suspensions, receiving six from the NHL between 2011 and 2018 for illegal hits, and another six-game suspension as recently as 2022. He was as recognized for his ability to provoke opponents as he was for his goal-scoring.
But in 2025? Marchand was described as “an elder statesman” for Team Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off by coach Jon Cooper. “Love him. I can`t say enough great things about him, his energy and passion. He seems to find the fountain of youth any time he comes into one of these tournaments. He`s one of the guys everybody turns to when everything`s under fire,” Cooper said. “The loudest guy on the bench, pumping everybody up, is Brad Marchand. For somebody that`s been around as long as he has, he doesn`t have to do that.”
This boundless energy is something Panthers coach Paul Maurice particularly appreciates about Marchand. “He is such a unique guy. He`s as wired at breakfast as he is at game time,” Maurice noted.
Maurice recalled moments when GM Bill Zito told him about potential acquisitions, like Matthew Tkachuk in 2022 or Seth Jones last summer, and his initial disbelief. When Zito mentioned Marchand, Maurice knew it was serious. “If he says it, then it could happen,” he said.
Frankly, Maurice wasn`t sure the Panthers had a “huge hole” for Marchand to fill and was concerned about how a 37-year-old veteran would integrate into a roster largely unchanged from their Cup-winning team. However, former Bruins teammates Shawn Thornton (now chief revenue officer) and Gregory Campbell (assistant general manager) assured Maurice that Marchand would be a perfect fit. “There`s just many stories about bringing them high-end guys toward the end of their career and it doesn`t work and it doesn`t fit. But they were sure,” the coach recounted.
Upon Marchand`s arrival, Maurice quickly understood the fit, both on and off the ice. “His personality took some pressure off the rest of the guys. I actually have more quiet guys than we have loud guys. You all know that [Aleksander] Barkov is not doing a podcast when he`s done [playing],” Maurice joked. “They`re like, `OK, Marchy`s here, he can do all the talking and we can just relax.`”
Maurice added that the team had lost some vocal personalities in the previous season with the departures of forward Ryan Lomberg and defenseman Brandon Montour. “Some of these guys start talking in their car and don`t stop until they left the rink. They just go on all the time,” Maurice said. “It was nice to have that element again that we kind of lost a little bit of it. He`s brought it back.”
Over the years, Marchand has also refined his interactions with the media, knowing when to be tight-lipped. A prime example came after Carolina defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere intentionally shot the puck at Marchand in Game 1 of the conference finals, resulting in a misconduct penalty for Marchand. When asked for his thoughts afterward, Marchand famously deadpanned, “Yeah, I`m not much of a thinker.”
Maurice referenced this line during his news conference that day, drawing laughs. “He`s a great interview. He`s very, very bright, even though I hear he is a man of very few thoughts,” he said, adding, “That`s a good line. I`m stealing it.”
On the Ice with New Linemates
On the ice during the Panthers` playoff run, Marchand has primarily played on the third line with center Anton Lundell, 23, and winger Eetu Luostarinen, 26. This trio has formed one of the postseason`s most effective lines. In their 17 games together, they`ve controlled 55% of shot attempts and 56% of expected goals when on the ice at 5-on-5. Offensively, they`ve scored 4.2 goals per 60 minutes while only allowing 0.82 goals against per 60 minutes.
Maurice praised Marchand`s impact on the two younger players. “The way they`ve expanded, the way they play … part of it is playing off him,” he said.
In the playoffs, Marchand has tallied 14 points (four goals, 10 assists). Luostarinen has 13 points (four goals, nine assists), and Lundell has 12 points (five goals, seven assists).
Marchand had high praise for Luostarinen, describing him as someone who “plays a man`s game. He plays through bodies. He`s hard on pucks, wins a lot of battles,” Marchand said. “He`s very, very skilled. He`s great with the puck. He doesn`t force plays. He`s very smart in the way that he plays.”
Marchand then paid Luostarinen what might be his highest compliment, saying he reminds him of Patrice Bergeron, his six-time Selke Trophy-winning former Bruins teammate. “He`s so defensively good with the stick. It reminds me a lot of Bergy, where he leads with the stick a lot, kills a lot of plays that way and creates offense from that,” Marchand remarked.
Marchand expressed enjoyment in playing with his current linemates because they share a similar “simple, direct” style. “We just complement each other all over the ice because we read the game pretty well on both sides of it. We support each other pretty well, all the way up and down the ice and then in the corner,” he explained. “So I think we just because of that, we`re able to create offense out, little scrums, stuff like that.”
Skating alongside Lundell and Luostarinen has felt revitalizing for Marchand. “They play fast and they play hard and they`re young, energetic guys. It keeps me feeling young,” Marchand said. “I`m lying to myself. I feel 25 again. I feel rejuvenated and part of that comes to playing with some younger guys and part of a really good group of guys in here.”
Former Rivals, New Teammates
Marchand didn`t always view his new teammates as “good guys,” especially when Matthew Tkachuk was antagonizing his Bruins in the 2023 and 2024 playoffs. “He`s a competitor. He`s there to win. His reputation precedes him,” Marchand said of Tkachuk. “One of the most gifted players in the league around the net. He brings an element to the group that brings guys swagger.”
When asked what opponents must think about having Marchand and Tkachuk, two legendary provocateurs, on the same Florida team, Marchand quipped, “I mostly feel sorry for the guys in our room. Not too many guys are going to get a break here now.” He added, “It`s nice to be on his team rather than going against him, for sure.”
Then there`s Sam Bennett, who delivered a controversial punch to Marchand during the 2024 playoff series between the Panthers and Bruins. The hit sidelined Marchand for two games, and Bennett received no further discipline. At the 2025 trade deadline, they became teammates. “I didn`t hold a grudge. Again, I know how this game`s played. I played a similar way,” Marchand stated. “It`s something that we joke about. I can laugh it off. I joke about it all the time. I joke about it more than he does, but I definitely joke about it.”
Paul Maurice commented on why fierce rivals can often become teammates without significant lingering animosity. “I think you find out when a player walks in the room, even if he`s had his great battles, they`re so happy that it`s over. They don`t have to fight you anymore. They don`t have to hack and whack in the corner for 60 minutes,” Maurice said. “Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett are best friends now. A year ago, you would`ve never thought that could happen.”
Indeed, a year ago, the idea of Brad Marchand joining the Florida Panthers seemed improbable. Yet, it makes perfect sense now: The “Rat King” joining the franchise whose fans celebrate wins by throwing plastic rats onto the ice.
Marchand has even become part of this tradition. After Florida wins, if there are rats on the ice, his teammates have started shooting the faux rodents at him as they head to the dressing room. “They see my family on the ice and want us to be together,” Marchand deadpanned.
As the playoffs have progressed, Marchand notes that “they`re shooting to hurt now.” He added, “Matthew Tkachuk caught me with one last game that I actually really felt there.”
Marchand is experiencing a range of emotions these days. The sting of the trade lessens with each playoff victory. He`s having more fun and feeling less stressed, having quickly bonded with his new teammates. He`s now just a few wins away from another Stanley Cup, reaching his third Final appearance since winning his first ring 14 years ago.
“It`s exciting. You hope that you get to this point. Obviously, we have a great team and we played well so far. We got to the point where we want to be, but we haven`t accomplished anything yet,” Marchand said, reflecting on the journey. “I may never get back this late in the playoffs ever again in my career. These are memories and moments that you want to embrace.”
