Brad Marchand Is A Perfect Hockey Player
Elsa. Getty Images.(I'm writing this blog before I see the return because I don't care what it is. There's no realistic package that'll make me say "Alright, good trade")
I can't believe I'm here writing this but I am sad and I once heard that the best way to get your feelings out is to write, so I'll give that a try.
Brad Marchand was my guy. From the moment he got to Boston he was my guy. He's still my guy. Brad Marchand is a damn near perfect hockey player, an all-time Bruins great, and should have been a Boston Bruin for life.
He won't be. Instead, we traded him to our biggest rival (the Panthers probably don't think so, and that's fair since all they do is beat the shit out of us, but to me they were).
Since rumors started swirling I began making my peace with the fact that Marchand would get moved. I haven't made much progress. I think it's particularly devastation because Marchand was the last connection I had between my "youth" (kinda, I was 21) and my sports teams? Maybe because he was the last Boston player remaining since I last lived in Massachusetts and now it all really feels over? I don't know.
All I know is that the Boston Bruins are a worse team and franchise now that Marchand is gone. Since he came on the scene in 2009 he's been a pest, an impact guy, a locker room guy, and a superstar. Often all at the same time.
When I was growing up everyone loved David Ortiz, rightfully so, but I was always a Manny guy. Papi was the face of the franchise with the killer smile who always said the right thing. Manny was Manny. I always saw Bergeron and Marchand as parallels to Papi and Manny. Not that Marchand and Manny share a ton in common, I think Manny was more an asshole because he wanted to be where Marchand was an on-ice asshole cuz he needed to be, but there were similarities. Marchand was the other guy, the guy who was often looked at as a problem, and I think it took the hockey world a LONG time to give him the respect he deserved. But he never stopped fighting for it, not for a second.
I don't know where the franchise goes from here all I know is that it is going to take a LOT to win me back as a diehard fan. They've given me a short term gift in the sense that I don't have to turn on NESN again and watch this disaster of a team anymore this year, but I don't know what the future holds. I know it's very concerning they allowed Don Sweeney, a GM who's accomplished nothing in his tenure, to sell the entire team. That leads me to believe the ownership is comfortable letting Sweeney handle a total rebuild, and that they plan on him being the GM for a longitme. I don't see the logic in that. Maybe he'll shock the world and build a great team despite the fact that there's zero evidence to support that theory, I don't fuckin know.
All I know is that Brad Marchand, my favorite hockey player of all time (which is something I didn't realize until I started typing this sentence but it's true), is gone.