Regardless of how things ended between Brad Marchand and the Boston Bruins, the now-Florida Panthers forward will always have a soft spot for the city he called home for 15 seasons. There were expectations that the welcome Marchand would receive in his return to Boston on Tuesday night was going to be special, and they didn't disappoint.
Marchand's emotions came pouring out when the Bruins gave him a beautiful tribute at the game's first television timeout. It featured a standing ovation from the sell-out crowd, and chants of “Marchy, Marchy,” as they did when he made a big play over the past 15 seasons. Marchand's departure didn't go down as the captain would've liked, but this tribute certainly made up for it.
“As soon as I saw my kids on the screen, it kind of hit like a ton of bricks,” Marchand said after the Panthers' win. “The memories. The emotions of everything. The years and the incredible times. It just kind of comes pouring into your memory. It's just crazy to see.”
It was easy for Marchand to get lost in the whirlwind of what transpired last season. He was rehabbing an injury when the Bruins traded him to the Panthers, and by the time he was ready to return, Florida was in the middle of their second consecutive Stanley Cup run. Tuesday night offered him a chance to tie a bow on his Bruins' career.
“There's a lot of things I forget. The years all bunch together. Careers go by fast. It doesn't matter how long you're in it — it goes by extremely fast. To see a snapshot of that in a clip like that, it brings everything back, and the amount of pride that I had — that I have — that I played here and in this organization, I just couldn't hold it in.”
In classic Marchand fashion, he made a direct impact on the Panthers' win over his old team. He had two assists, drew a penalty that Florida eventually scored on, and took two penalty minutes of his own. It was a fitting way for Brad Marchand to pay his own tribute to what he did for 15 years in Black and Gold.
