Boston Bruins
Brad Marchand Returns To Boston With Mixed Emotions, Ready For Proper Goodbye
BOSTON — Brad Marchand knows Boston.
He knows the streets. He knows where to go to get a good cup of coffee. He knows the people.
What Marchand doesn’t know is how he will feel as he takes the ice at TD Garden on Tuesday night, when he plays his first game against the Boston Bruins–the team he spent the first 16 years of his career with– since being traded to the Florida Panthers last season.
“I’m just going to try to enjoy it,” Marchand said. “I don’t really know what to expect emotionally. I think the closest I got to being on the other side was being here for Team Canada and against Team USA. Even that was a little bit different. I’m just excited. It’s fun to be back here. It’ll be fun to play the Bruins and play my old teammates with friends and family in the building.”
Brad Marchand on mentally preparing to face the Bruins for the first time:
“There’s been enough moments that I went through, and didn’t take in enough or didn’t appreciate. This is one I will make sure that I do.” pic.twitter.com/HHQRmGhEr7
— Andrew Fantucchio (@A_Fantucchio) October 20, 2025
Drafted by Boston in the third round of the 2006 NHL Draft, Marchand began his career as an irritant role player on the fourth line and eventually evolved into one of the game’s premiere players and a cornerstone member of the Bruins franchise.
Marchand is lethal, both with his hands and his mouth. Whether it’s by scoring a game-winning goal in the clutch or with a colorfully crafted quip that is equally insulting as it is impressive, Marchand can cut an opponent at their knees, stab them in the heart, and walk away making them feel as if they should be thankful in the end for the experience.
Infamously known as “the rat,” Marchand became beloved by fans in Boston and loathed by those everywhere else. As he prepares for his first ever game against the Bruins, Marchand knows that love he receives upon his return may be limited.
“I’m sure it’s going to be tough for some people,” said Marchand. “Like they won’t be able to cheer because they don’t like the Panthers very much. Maybe they like me enough to give me a little ‘yay’ out there or something. I think there will be a little bit of love there. Maybe if I do something good or something bad, they’re probably going to boo me pretty quick. They’re pretty passionate here. They might have forgotten already and just treat me like any other Panthers player.”
Over the last three years, the Bruins and Panthers have battled in an incredibly intense and physical rivalry.
It began in the first round of the 2023 playoffs, when the wildcard Panthers upset the top-seeded Bruins en route to reaching the Stanley Cup Final. Since then, the two franchises have gone in opposite directions. Florida has won each of the last two championships. Boston finished tied for last in the Eastern Conference this past season and missed the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade.
Even while the Bruins’ season spiraled into disarray, Marchand fully intended on re-signing in Boston at year’s end. He wanted to finish his career where it started. He wanted to be a “Bruin for life.” But when the two sides failed to reach and agreement, the Bruins traded Marchand at the eleventh hour, sending him to the Panthers in a deal that sent shockwaves through the hockey world.
Marchand quickly endeared himself to fans in Florida the same way he did in Boston, as he helped the Panthers win their second-straight Cup and the second of his career with a vintage performance in the playoffs, recording 20 points in 23 games.
MUST READ: Brad Marchand Begins New Reality With Panthers
“Usually it takes you a couple of weeks to get to know the new guys before you’re walking around the room chirping everybody,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “It was in the first hour, he did that and got that figured out.”
“He’s a gamer. He just loves coming to the rink. It’s so good for the younger players to see an older veteran champion come to the rink and seemingly love all parts of it–be excited about the breakfast we’re getting. He’s just wired from the time he gets up. That joy that he brings to the rink, it’s great for the young players to see somebody that hasn’t stopped noticing all the good things that we have here.”
Marchand, 37, will more likely than not finish his career in Florida after signing a six-year contract extension with the Panthers this past offseason. There, he doesn’t have to think about everything that happened in Boston, or how it all ended.
Like everyone else who’s ever called Boston home, Marchand can sit on the white sand of South Beach and let the sound of the waves drown out his emotions. But every time he returns, he knows his feelings will be waiting here for him.
“It hits you when you’re here a little bit more,” said Marchand. “I haven’t thought about it a ton up to this point, but I think that’s probably why I don’t, because then I’ll get emotional about it. It’s hard not to. There’s just too many memories, and I was here too long for it not to be.”
Just four days after he was traded, Marchand was back at TD Garden as the Panthers faced the Bruins, but didn’t play due to injury.
There was no tribute. No well-deserved standing ovation. No acknowledgement of any kind. But everyone knew. An era had officially ended in Boston.
Tonight, Marchand gets to say goodbye to it all.
What's the best part about playing in Boston?
"The fans, for sure. The city is incredible, but the fans make it awesome. They're just very unique. There's stories and things that I've seen fans do, a lot of them aren't PG rated, in a playoff run. Stuff like that makes it so… pic.twitter.com/tGA6sjjy1D
— Andrew Fantucchio (@A_Fantucchio) October 20, 2025
“These are things that down the road I think I’ll really appreciate,” Marchand said. “There’s been enough moments that I kind of went through, and didn’t take it in enough or didn’t really appreciate it. This is one that I will make sure that I do.”
As Marchand continues to return to Boston over the coming years, each visit back will feel less special than the previous. But while the novelty will inevitably fade, the feelings and memories never will.
Marchand will always miss the city. He’ll always miss the people.
“The city is incredible, but the fans make it awesome,” said Marchand. “They’re just very unique. It’s as simple as like every time I go get a coffee, I do the same routine, so I went to the same coffee shop every day, and there’d be message on my cup whether I had a good game or bad game the night before.”
“All the way down, they just bleed black and gold, and that it’s part of why I think there’s so much pressure on the teams to have success, and why they focus on it so much is. You can’t slip. You don’t have the ability to slip in this city, or you’re going to hear about it. We wanted to produce and be good for the fans and live up to that reputation. That’s what makes it special to play here.”
