Brad Marchand has had many noteworthy experiences over his career. Some of them are good ones, such as winning the Stanley Cup in 2011 and playing 1,000 games for the Boston Bruins. Others, however, are known for his actions on the ice.
During a recent appearance on the “What Chaos!” podcast, the Bruins captain was questioned about his “dumbest moments.”
“I think we all have to agree, the dumbest moment of my career — there’s a few,” Marchand told hosts Pete Blackburn and DJ Bean. “The one with Ryan Callahan is probably the most evident. Oh, and the one on (Tristan) Jarry wasn’t great either. “There are a couple of bad ones.”
During the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, when the Bruins faced the Tampa Bay Lightning, Marchand licked Callahan after a fight. Callahan, unsurprisingly, was not pleased with the situation and told reporters after the game that he hoped the league would investigate it.
Marchand received a notice from the league but was not fined or suspended. However, he was cautioned that if his pranks continued, he would face consequences. After being chosen Bruins captain before of the 2023-24 season, the 35-year-old confessed it was a watershed moment in his career.
“My brother mentioned something to me after I informed him. “He said something along the lines of, ‘four or five years ago, everybody hated you, and now you’re the captain of the team,'” Marchand claimed in September. “The way things have changed has been very astonishing. And, perhaps, the episode with Callahan was one of those moments when I sensed that things were getting away from me a little.”
The Jarry event occurred more recently. Marchand received a six-game penalty in 2022 after punching the Pittsburgh Penguins’ goalkeeper. Marchand admitted that his emotions took over when Jarry allegedly replied, “How about that (expletive) save?”
Marchand has developed significantly throughout his career and has established himself as a fixture in the Bruins’ lineup, serving as both captain and top scorer. He’ll be in the final year of his contract in the NHL in 2024-25, and he expressed his desire to continue his career in Boston to Blackburn and Bean. General manager Don Sweeney expressed the same attitude last summer, stating that Marchand will be a “lifelong Bruin.”
