Bruins
Marchand won the Stanley Cup in 2011 and was one of Boston's fan favorites, as well as team captain this season.
Brad Marchand had a memorable 16-year career in Boston. (Globe Staff Photo / Barry Chin)
The Bruins made plenty of moves at the NHL trade deadline with eyes on the future and a full-blown rebuild.
However, one of the most painful transactions for Bruins fans involved Boston’s longest-tenured athlete, Brad Marchand. The team’s captain, Stanley Cup winner, and fan-favorite was dealt to the Florida Panthers on Friday, marking the end of a 16-year run with the Bruins.
Now that Marchand’s time in a black and gold sweater is officially over, take a look back at some of his best moments in Boston.
Hoisting the cup — and celebrating appropriately.
Although he was still a young budding star when Boston won the Stanley Cup in 2011, Marchand was an integral member of that team, particularly as an agitator.
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Marchand played a memorable role in those playoffs, and perhaps an even more memorable role in the Bruins’ Stanley Cup celebration. He and Patrice Bergeron performed a drunken rendition of “Black and Yellow” in front of an enthusiastic parade crowd.
Marchand and Bergeron had many great moments together — more on that later — but the championship celebration sits firmly at the top of the list.
An honorable mention to this list: Marchand was so drunk during this celebration that he couldn’t even record an interview for the Stanley Cup DVD.
The lick heard round the world.
Marchand will go down as a fan-favorite in Boston, but most other fanbases don’t share that same love for the pesky forward. That’s probably because of the living Marchand made agitating his opponents every chance he got.
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There are too many pesky moments to count, but Marchand licking the face of Ryan Callahan during a game in May 2018.
That play drew quite a reaction from Callahan and the Lightning, but Bruins fans loved it. One even came to TD Garden four years later with a sign reading “You’re face-licking good.”
Boston, MA 3-29-22: A fan holds a sign for Brad Marchand (63) referencing his face licking episode from a few years ago as the Bruins forward skates by in the second period. The Boston Bruins hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs in a regular season NHL hockey game at the TD Garden. (Jim Davis/Globe Staff).
Channeling Conor McGregor with celebration.
Marchand has been an overtime hero plenty of times throughout his career, but one stands out among the bunch.
Conor McGregor was in Boston doing a ceremonial puck drop for the Bruins a number of years ago, and Marchand was clearly a fan of the Irish fighter. So, after Marchand netted the game-winning goal against the Blue Jackets, he broke out McGregor’s iconic strut. Or at least, an on-ice version. Still, the impersonation was sound, and McGregor got a kick out of it.
An unbreakable bond with Patrice Bergeron.
Bergeron and Marchand were line mates for over a decade with the Bruins, forging a strong friendship in black and gold sweaters. Even with Marchand in Florida now, it’s hard to imagine the duo’s friendship softening.
Marchand created plenty of magic on the ice with Bergeron, but the two are also well known for their off-ice antics. Marchand knows how to get Bergeron out of his shell more than any other, and he proved that at Charlie McAvoy’s wedding.
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The line partners became dance partners and stole the show on the floor.
Marchand and Bergeron’s legacies in Boston will be forever intertwined, and they kept Bruins fans entertained for almost two decades.
Becoming Bruins’ all-time playoff scoring leader.
Over the course of his career, Marchand established himself as one of the best Bruins of all time, and a hall of fame caliber player. Among his greatest achievements, Marchand claimed his spot as Boston’s all-time leading playoff scorer in 2024.
Marchand surpassed Cam Neely for the franchise record, and further cemented his legacy among the Boston greats.
Being named team captain.
One of the crowning moments of Marchand’s career was being named team captain of the Bruins.
Boston has a rich history of leadership, and Marchand’s two predecessors in the role, Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron, carried the “C” with honor, and although Marchand’s time as captain was much shorter, he did a fine job carrying on the role.
Although there was some debate of whether Marchand would get the nod for the “C” over others like McAvoy, it suited Marchand to be the official leader of the post-Bergeron Bruins era.
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