Need to Know: Marchand Set for 1,000th Game

BOSTON – It wasn’t a cold winter afternoon in the middle of hockey season.

It wasn’t even a warm fall morning with a new campaign on the horizon.

It was the height of summer when, for most people, hockey is furthest from their minds. But Jeremy Swayman remembers the sight well – a veteran player grinding away in the gym on a steamy July day.

Of course, it was Brad Marchand.

“I’ve always looked up to him. The first time I stepped in the room in this organization,” Swayman recalled, “I saw him working out in the middle of July and ever since then I knew I was gonna have a Marchy mentality going forward.”

Marchand, who is set to become the eighth player in Bruins history to play in 1,000 games on Tuesday night when Boston hosts Tampa Bay at TD Garden, has had a similar impact on others throughout the dressing room over the years.

“You first come in…and he's the first guy you notice,” said Jake DeBrusk. “At that time, there was guys like [Patrice Bergeron] and [Zdeno Chara] but he just always caught my eye with his work ethic and intensity.  I think that it takes a special player to play 1,000 games.

“I think his road is different than other guys that have played 1,000 games. Everyone's got different journeys, but his is probably one of the most impressive.”

Impressive because Marchand was not destined to be a star.

The Nova Scotia native entered the league as a fourth-liner playing alongside Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton on the B’s famed Merlot Line in 2010-11.

“Early in your career, your whole goal is to not get sent down,” Marchand said following Monday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena. “You’re trying to survive. I feel like you go through different parts of your career where you’re trying to make it. You’re feeling a little comfortable. And now as I’m getting older, I feel like I’m a rookie again a little bit where every day there’s something to prove.

“I’m just still trying to get better and do everything I can to not decline. I still want to play for so long. There’s so many things I want to do.”

That mentality has served Marchand quite well over the course of his 15-year career. He did not let the label of “pest” or “agitator” stand in his way as he turned himself into one of the league’s best wingers, an All-Star, and a perennial 30-goal scorer – not to mention a first-liner that scored two goals in the B’s Game 7 win over Vancouver to capture the 2011 Stanley Cup.

“His competitive drive, he always wants to be better,” said Matt Grzelcyk. “He’s never going to take no for an answer. He just has such high goals for himself. It’s impressive to see the work that he puts in in order to achieve those. It’s definitely motivating as a teammate to see what he puts himself through.”

Marchand’s commitment to excellence has turned him into one of the greatest Bruins of all-time. That has been more than solidified during this milestone campaign as the 35-year-old was tabbed as Boston’s 27^th captain in October, named to the club’s All-Centennial Team later that month, and in just the last few weeks moved into fifth place on the Bruins’ all-time points list and all-time goals list.

“Feeling very grateful to have experienced all the things that I have and to be a part of so many great teams and be part of the best organization in the world,” said Marchand. “The more I think about it, I do know how extremely grateful and fortunate I’ve been. But at the same time, I still try to not get caught up in it because I feel like I have a lot of time left, still have so many big dreams and goals.

“I still feel like a kid a lot of times, so many things that I want to accomplish with this group and this team. You don’t ever want it to end.”

Marchand added that getting too consumed by personal accomplishments can act as a detriment.

“It’s very easy to get complacent in this game and it’s very easy to get comfortable,” said Marchand. “It’s probably one of my biggest fears in this game and one of the things that drives me the most is when you’re so fortunate to be here and be part of this organization. I’ve had so many incredible players to learn from and one of the things I’ve learned and taken along the way is they don’t take a day for granted.

“It’s truly a gift to be part of this team and part of this league. You never know when your last day is gonna come in this league. I feel like when you start looking at things you’ve accomplished, you might think it gets easier. As you get older, it only gets harder. You need to put more time in and dedicate more effort.”

That approach – which Marchand notes he learned from those that came before him – continues to be passed on through the Bruins organization. And now it’s No. 63 who is setting the standard.

“I started in this league on opposite teams from him and you hear about guys, you see highlights of guys, you see how good he is,” said Charlie Coyle, who is now Marchand’s centerman. “Even growing up [in Weymouth, Mass.], before I was in the league, you know who Brad Marchand is. Going on the Cup run [in 2011], he kind of broke out…I guess before you have your views on him, like what you think a guy will be like based on what you see from an outside perspective, but you never really know.

“Once you’re with him, you understand what kind of guy he is, what kind of leader he is…he’s just a dog, he’s had to be his whole career. That’s why he’s played 1,000 games and he’s at the level he’s at. He works for everything.

“I don’t know if it was harder playing him in practice or in games when I was in Minnesota playing against him in games. That’s what he does. He raises his level, raises the team’s level and you have to play to his standard. And he sets it every time.”

Wait, There’s More

• Kevin Shattenkirk missed Monday’s practice with an illness. The blue liner had missed the last two games as a healthy scratch.
• Montgomery was pleased with his team’s response during Monday’s skate after a poor effort in Saturday’s loss to Washington. “There are things that we want, like our standard of how we compete, the pace of which we want to practice with, and attention to detail,” he said. “Certain things we want to accomplish within our systems or structure, and I thought we accomplished all of that.”
• Marchand skated on a line with Coyle and David Pastrnak during Monday’s practice, while Pavel Zacha centered Trent Frederic and DeBrusk. “All three of them can score goals, big heavy line,” said Montgomery. “First time we're seeing it. So just looking at it. [Nikita] Kucherov, [Brayden] Point, sometimes it's [Steven] Stamkos, sometimes it’s [Brandon] Hagel. That's a pretty dominant line. So, we're going to match up.”
• Tampa, set to close out a four-game road trip, enters Tuesday’s matchup coming off a 4-2 win in Columbus that snapped a two-game skid. The Lightning (28-20-5) are 7-3-0 in their last 10 and sit third in the Atlantic Division with 61 points this season.
• Kucherov paces Tampa with 89 points and 33 goals in 52 games, while Brayden Point (25-29—54), Victor Hedman (9-43—52), Steven Stamkos (22-26—48), and Brandon Hagel (19-29—48) are all averaging roughly a point per game.

Tuesday’s Projected Lineup

FORWARDS

Brad Marchand – Charlie Coyle – David Pastrnak

Trent Frederic – Pavel Zacha – Jake DeBrusk

James van Riemsdyk – Morgan Geekie – Anthony Richard

Jakub Lauko – Jesper Boqvist – Danton Heinen

DEFENSEMEN

Matt Grzelcyk – Charlie McAvoy

Hampus Lindholm – Brandon Carlo

Derek Forbort – Parker Wotherspoon

GOALIES

Linus Ullmark
Jeremy Swayman