A lot changed about the Boston Bruins last week when general manager Don Sweeney made the difficult decision to move captain Brad Marchand at the NHL trade deadline Friday.
However, one thing will not change about the historic franchise, at least not in Marchand’s eyes: the culture.
“I don’t think I could take credit for being one of the guys that started it,” Marchand told reporters after Panthers’ morning skate at TD Garden on Tuesday. “I think when you come to this organization, what was so special about it is you knew about the culture and you saw it when you got here and you just bought in.
“The guys that didn’t buy in left, and they brought in new guys in that would buy in, and that’s what made this organization so competitive for so long.”
Marchand remembered when he first joined the Black and Gold for part of the 2009-10 campaign before making the full-time leap from the AHL to the NHL the following season.
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“I remember my first days watching Mark Recchi, he was 82 years old, doing sprints on the treadmill after a game, and eating a slice of pizza,” Marchand recalled with a laugh. “I’m like, ‘Wow, I might need to change a few things here.’ Those are the cultures you want to be part of when guys come in and they just work together.”
The 2011 Stanley Cup champion continued to carry the legacy of what it means to wear the Spoked-B on Causeway after the departures of Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron, and feels he’s leaving the franchise in the capable hands of David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy.
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“They both lead in different ways and especially together, the way I look at that is like a Bergy-Z type thing where they’re co-leaders where they have different ways they can lead,” Marchand said. “But they’ve been around. They’ve seen it and the way that Z and Bergy built that culture and what’s expected every single day. (I have) complete faith in those guys to carry on that culture and legacy and continue to add to it. Not just carry it, you got to leave it better than you found it.
“Especially with the term those guys are on and how young they are, they have a great opportunity ahead of them to kind of carve their own path and build a legacy that they’re excited about and, and lead the way that they want to,” Marchand continued. “That’s what Z did when he came in. He had an idea of how he wanted to lead and how he wanted to change things, and he put it in motion. And then Bergy came in and the two of them just took over and did their thing. So, those guys have that opportunity to do the same thing now.”
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Pastrnak’s introduction to the Bruins culture was pretty similar to Marchand’s when he made his NHL debut in the 2014-15 season.
“I’ve been with Pasta a long time,” Marchand said. “I’ve seen him go from a little boy to one of the best players in the world. It’s been incredible to see.”
Marchand admitted he has not had the opportunity to speak with McAvoy since the trade was announced, but anticipated seeing the blue liner at some point before the Bruins-Panthers game Tuesday night.
Featured image via Brian Fluharty/Imagn Images
