When an NHL players hit the 1,000 games played milestone in the league like Brad Marchand will when he takes the ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night at TD Garden, it is always a natural time to reflect on everything that’s taken them to that epochal point in their hockey career.
But it’s also very much about taking stock while looking forward for a 35-year-old veteran like Marchand, who made it clear he’s got plenty in the tank during his first year as captain of the Boston Bruins. Marchand wants to add hundreds more NHL games to his player resume and yearns to participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics for Team Canada, and that’s all in addition to bringing another Cup to Boston.
“I look at it so many different ways. When you look back at it as a kid growing up and just trying to get into the league, it’s hard to imagine playing 1,000 games…especially for one team. It’s pretty incredible,” admitted Marchand. “But at the same time, I feel like personal achievements are things you look back at when you retire. I set goals in my career and playing in 1,000 NHL games was a goal at some point. But when it became reachable, I had other goals and bigger aspirations.
“It’s special to look back and see how far I’ve come, but hopefully it’s just a building block to many more. I still plan on playing for a lot of years, so 1,000 games feels like a bump in the road if you plan on playing 1300, 1400 or 1500 [games] or whatever it could be at the end of the day. I didn’t expect to get here, but now it’s just another game. I plan on playing a lot more and plan on getting a lot more accolades. The Olympics is on the list and hopefully we get a few more Cups. It's special, but the last thing you want to do is feel like you’ve accomplished anything. Every single day there is still something to prove.”
And the numbers speak for themselves when it comes to proving his greatness.
Marchand will be just the eighth Bruin to play 1,000 games for Boston, joining Ray Bourque (1,518), John Bucyk (1,436), Patrice Bergeron (1,294), Don Sweeney (1,052), David Krejci (1,032), Wayne Cashman (1,027) and Zdeno Chara (1,023). The Little Ball of Hate ranks fifth in franchise history in goals (397), eighth in assists (513), fifth in points (910) and is tied for third in game-winning goals (77)
Hitting the 1,000 games played plateau, though, is also a time to reflect on the people who helped him achieve that rare longevity with the same franchise. Obviously, Marchand’s coaches have been a massive factor, and his family and friends were the biggest part of the collective village it takes to raise a pro hockey player.
But the biggest influences, both early and often, have been his teammates when it comes to Marchand’s laudable transformation from shift-disturbing agitator to team captain and future Hall of Famer. Veteran Cup winners like Mark Recchi, Chris Kelly, Andrew Ference and Shawn Thornton were influencers to be sure, but perhaps nobody impacted the Marchand we see today more than Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron.
Marchand and Bergeron will forever be linked together after being linemates for more than a decade while forging a close friendship and a perfect kind of partnership, and that’s perfectly okay with No. 37.
It’s a point of pride for one of the B’s all-time greats.
“It’s very special. The fact that he’s been able to do it at his level for so long and the way that he’s done it. To me it’s also the way he’s also been able to improve from one year to the next. He’s so dedicated to the sport,” said Bergeron to Boston Sports Journal. “His work ethic is second to none and it speaks volumes to the type of character that he has.
“It’s been a privilege to share the ice with him for a big part of those 1,000 games. I feel very lucky that I was able to share that with him and proud of him, and everything he’s been able to accomplish. We’d be together hanging out a lot and we’d be starting every drill together because we wanted to work on things. We worked on our chemistry for over a decade. We never got away from it because we always felt like we had things to work on. But to have that relationship and that friendship and to be able to share that for so long, I know it doesn’t happen often. In a way I didn’t realize it when it was happening, but a few of our [veteran] teammates told us about it…that this was pretty special, and it doesn’t happen very often. That’s when we really started to be more thankful [for being in a duo] and appreciative of it. To me it’s an honor if somebody, when they think of us, thinks of us [together] as a duo.”
Bergeron has watched with pride, but not one ounce of surprise, as Marchand has successfully taken hold of the captain role this season and made it his own. There have been a few instances where the new captain has used the former captain as a sounding board when it comes to his new leadership mantle, but like all good leaders it’s now come to a point where Marchand is leading in his own natural way.
“It’s been great to see him evolve and mature and grow as a player, but also a person. I think he’s always wanted to put in the work, and I think he’s learned a lot over the years taking in the experience. But he’s also very good with criticism and being able to take it and realizing that there are things that you can improve in life. That goes for anybody,” said Bergeron to Boston Sports Journal. “He’s always been one of those guys that listens, wants to improve and cares. He’s worked on himself, and he’s become a tremendous person, a tremendous leader and one of the best left wingers of his generation.
“Let’s be honest, even the numbers don’t lie now [that he’s been] doing this for so long. At the start of the year people would ask me about [Marchand being captain] and I would say the team is in great hands. He’s been around, he has the experience, he’s matured over the years, and he wants to win. He’s a great leader, you know? That’s what leaders are all about. They have to be themselves and figure out their own way of doing it. That’s exactly what he’s doing and exactly what I expected him to do in finding his way. I’m proud…I’m proud of him and the way I was able to see that evolve over the years with who he is as a person and as a player.”
It's perhaps most appropriate that Marchand is also in the middle of one of his best seasons while taking on the pressure and weight of being Boston’s leader on and off the ice. He’s on pace for a career-high 40 goals and a solid 76 points while forging chemistry with a new center in Charlie Coyle, who has been playing a very Bergeron-like game all season.
More than the production, though, the clutch moments when Marchand has put the team on his back have been notable. Perhaps none more so than the natural hat trick in the third period to vault Boston to a come-from-behind win against the Columbus Blue Jackets earlier in the season.
MARCHY TAKEOVER 🎩 pic.twitter.com/nst46wIv0l
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 4, 2023
But ask everybody top-to-bottom in the organization about Marchand, and they will tell you that it’s the work ethic that sets him apart. It’s what has allowed him to go from a fourth line troublemaker to a top line All Star and future Hall of Famer, and it’s the kind of hard-working standard that good leaders set within a successful organization.
“When you first come in as a rookie, [Marchand] is the first guy that you notice,” said Jake DeBrusk. “At that time there were guys like [Bergeron] and [Chara], but he was a guy that always caught my eye because of his work ethic and intensity.
“I think that it takes a special player to play 1,000 games no matter who you are. And I think his road is a little different than a lot of other guys that have played 1,000 games. Everybody has a different journey, but his is probably one of the most impressive, I would say. But most of all [he is] a hard-working guy. You don’t get there without hard work and determination, and his preparation toward the game. Everybody hears his chirps and everything like that, but he plays that game [of hockey] like the Little Ball of Hate.”
Marchand won’t be formally recognized for his 1,000th NHL game when he hits the milestone on Tuesday night. That will instead come on Monday prior to a home game against the Dallas Stars at TD Garden when there will undoubtedly be a first-class ceremony for one of the Bruins all-time greats.
But Bergeron will be in the house to his longtime partner reached the milestone moment on Tuesday night and it will be all about celebrating everything that the Little Ball of Hate has meant to his Original Six franchise while ascending to iconic, legendary hockey status over the last 15 years.
POSTGAME NOTES
1) A great game for Brad Marchand, who assisted on both of Boston's goals and nearly had the game-winner in overtime when he was robbed by Andrei Vasilevskiy on a point blank bid. It was also an emotional night for Marchand, who looked to be overcome with the moment during the national anthem and then got a long, appreciative ovation during a video montage celebrating him playing in his 1,000th game as a member of the Boston Bruins.
Brad Marchand gets a video tribute and standing ovation from the TD Garden crowd in recognition of his 1,000th career game. pic.twitter.com/mquhzm2gaK
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) February 14, 2024
2) The power play was the cause for the loss in a well-played game that came down to the shootout after the B's fired six shots on net during the overtime session. The Bruins PP went 0-for-6 and couldn't push anything through Vasilevskiy, who stopped 36-of-38 shots while looking like his All-World self between the pipes. Could this be setting up for a first round playoff match between these two teams? It certainly could be with a team that's given Boston their share of problems in recent postseason history.
3) It was great to see Patrice Bergeron in the house visiting with NESN during the game telecast while showing up to support his friend Brad during his milestone moment. He's now been to a couple of games at TD Garden within the last few weeks and seems to be getting more and more comfortable in retirement as the season goes on. That's excellent to see. Hopefully he can join the Boston Bruins organization in some capacity when the timing is right for both sides.
"What I saw was a very determined kid that wanted to make an impression any way he could"
— NESN (@NESN) February 14, 2024
Patrice Bergeron on his first impressions of Brad Marchand@AndyBrickley | @RealJackEdwards | #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/6DymkxoW1E
