During and after the 2011 Stanley Cup final, Brad Marchand was the most hated hockey player in Vancouver because of how he got under the skin of the Canucks, biting fingers on the ice and bruising fans’ pride off it as the Bruins snatched the Stanley Cup.
Despite the animosity, Marchand said Vancouverites mostly let him off the hook.
“After we won, there was a lot more things that would happen, getting chirped in town, but most of the time people were actually pretty good. I thought I would get a little more than I would tend to,” he said a day before Boston hosts the Vancouver Canucks at TD Garden.
Calling in to talk with Vancouver’s Starting Lineup on Sportsnet 650, the Bruins left winger said he’s worked to grow his game from that provocative, dislikable opponent who is loved at home and hated everywhere else, into a rounded and productive player.
“There’s a lot of people that had that conversation with me,” he said, listing players, former head coach Claude Julien, and family who needled him into professionalism at the rink and with “extra-curriculars.”
“Claude spoke to me several times a year about it. My dad talked to me a ton as well. I had a lot of different people in my ear that pushed me to try to be more of a player than an agitator and continue to work on my game.”
He said the transition continues to test his discipline.
“At times it was [hard]. I don’t completely get away from that stuff. There’s something that tends to happen every year that gets me in trouble,” he said. “It was definitely a work in progress. It took a while and it’s still something I have to work on. I’m not going to be perfect this year but I’ll do my best.”
[snippet id=3636897]
The Canucks, off a 3-0 win over the Senators in Ottawa, continue their five-game road stint Thursday in Boston. Marchand has six points in five games and looking to build off a 39-goal, 85-point season last year that nonetheless saw the Bruins eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
He said Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin continue to be dangerous and, like the 37-year-old twins, Zdeno Chara is an example of NHL longevity.
“His work ethic is incredible. It seems like his goal every day is to prove people wrong and show he is still an incredible player,” Marchand said of his 40-year-old teammate. “He may play until he’s 60. He has that drive and that ability.”
