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Panthers in Boston, Allowing Marchand to Say Goodbyes

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3 months ago

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Marchand panthers
New Florida Panthers forward Brad Marchand meets the media at the IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale on Monday morning. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

FORT LAUDERDALE — Monday was all about Brad Marchant joining the Florida Panthers.

Tuesday is going to be about Marchand saying goodbye to the Boston Bruins.

Although Marchand will not play for the Panthers in Boston tonight due to his upper-body injury, all eyes will be on Marchand tonight.

“This is not your average trade,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “This is a player who was the fabric of the team, a storied franchise which has had very few captains over the years. This is a big, big deal. And it needs to be respected … and revered, how important he was to that team. There have been a handful of elite players who left after being captains. It’s a big deal.”

Marchand, 36, spent 16 seasons with the Bruins before being traded to the Panthers at the NHL Trade Deadline on Friday afternoon.

The Bruins and Marchand had been talking about a contract extension, and there are reports that Boston was offering a three-year deal.

The two sides were apart on money, however, leading to the Bruins to trade their captain to a division rival for their Stanley Cup defense.

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On Monday, Marchand said he would not get into specifics of his negotiations with GM Don Sweeney and team president Cam Neely, but said they did not talk on Friday.

“Nothing good comes from these situations when you start talking about the details of the behind-the-scenes of how these things go down,’’ Marchand said.

“We obviously were working on trying to get an extension done. Sweens said it the other day–there was a gap. We talked all the way up to, I think it was the night before the trade deadline. We didn’t talk the final day. We both felt that we had a position, and ultimately, we didn’t get it done.”

The Bruins were in Tampa during the trade deadline, so, when the deal went down, Marchand did not get to say goodbye to his teammates.

He plans on doing some of that Monday after the Panthers arrived in Boston, and today at Boston Garden before the game.

The Bruins are expected to honor Marchand during tonight’s game.

“I’ve had an incredible run in that organization, and I’m extremely proud of how things went there,’’ he said. “It was very disappointing that things didn’t get done. I love the organization and I wanted to stay there, but at the end of the day, I also know that business is business. Every player has a shelf life, regardless of whether that’s when we want it to be or not.

“Sometimes, there are things that are out of our control that dictate situations. If we were in the playoff [picture], we probably would’ve had a much different conversation, and I know that. It’s something we had talked about previously. But we weren’t, and at that point, very tough decisions had to be made.”

Marchand took out a full-page ad in Monday’s print edition of the Boston Globe.

In it, he thanked the fans in Boston for all of his years with them — a run highlighted by a Stanley Cup championship in 2011.

Marchand panthers

To Boston,

Thank you for welcoming me into this great city when I was just a young Canadian kid looking to break into the best league in the world. You allowed me to achieve my dream of playing in the National Hockey League and winning the Stanley Cup. For this I am forever grateful. You also embraced me from day one and immediately brought me into your family. Since that time, I have become a husband and a father to a beautiful family. My family is now your family: We are Bostonians now and forever.

Representing this city as captain of the Boston Bruins was the greatest honor of my life, and it was a privilege to wear the Spoked B over the past 16 years. Boston will always be a part of me, and it will always be a part of my family.

The Panthers, obviously, understand tonight is going to be about Marchand in Boston.

They are just excited to have him as a teammate.

“You can be rivals as much as you want on the ice when you’re playing against each other,” Sam Bennett said. “As soon as you’re on the same team, and we’re in the same jersey, everything’s forgotten about the past. You’re automatically teammates and good friends.”

Ditto, apparently.

Marchand’s first entry into the team’s text chain was a chirp. Bennett loved it.

“It would’ve been great to be able to stay and play out my career [in Boston], but this is an incredible opportunity, and one that I’m really excited about,” Marchand said.

“I feel rejuvenated coming here. They’re completely different mindsets from where we were as a team and the things we were going through. Now, coming in and seeing the path that these guys are on and the way that they’re preparing for the playoffs and the way their preparation starts in the mornings and the way they deal with things, it’s exciting.”

As far as his injury goes, Maurice said that while Marchand met with team medical staff on Sunday, the timeline Sweeney laid out of 3-4 weeks is about right.

Maurice said the team did not expect it to be longer, nor shorter, than what Sweeney said.

Marchand was hurt March 1 in Pittsburgh when he got run from behind into the boards.

“I am feeling better, getting better every day is how I would describe it,” Marchand said. “We’re going to do more with the team today, since we didn’t get to do much yesterday with it being a day off.

“The biggest thing, when you’re not on the ice, is to spend more time off the ice and get to know each other. I am hoping, if things go well today, I might be able to jump on the ice tomorrow. We haven’t gotten that far yet. We are going. To try a couple things today that I have not been able to do and go from there.’’

ON DECK: GAME No. 65
FLORIDA PANTHERS at BOSTON BRUINS

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