Florida Panthers forward Brad Marchand is known for stirring the pot. His incredible energy and consistency in point production make him one of the league's best players today. That does not stop in the playoffs as he takes it up two more notches and is more dangerous when it counts the most.
Marchand is one of the few players who can take this same consistency and do it year after year while still getting better. His playoff success should be noticed, as his antics seem to take over the conversation instead of what he has done in the playoffs.
Marchand is a rare breed
Throughout his career, everyone knows what to expect from him during the regular season. He's a reliable forward who can play a regular shift, power play, or penalty kill. A player who can get under the skin of the opposition. A player who knows what's on the line in the playoffs and plays his best hockey. He is a gamer throughout and always puts the team first.
He won a Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2011 and it remains his only championship to date. However, he ranks high in postseason numbers and that may put on notice how good he is in the playoffs. Aside from former Bruins teammate Patrice Bergeron, he was the best player on the ice for the Bruins.
After many years with the Bruins organization, he was traded in a shocking move to the Panthers is what was believed to be a turning point for the Boston organization. Here are his rankings among playoff performers since the 2010:
Rank | Total | |
|---|---|---|
Goals | 1st | 63 |
Assists | 4th | 92 |
Points | 2nd | 155 |
+/- | 2nd | +45 |
PIM | 3rd | 205 |
PPG | 8th | 18 |
SHG | 1st | 3 |
GWG | 1st | 15 |
He has 235 hits, 87 blocks, and 914 takeaways in the last 175 playoff games. This season, he has seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points in 19 games.
In the current Stanley Cup Final, he has one short-handed goal, one power play goal, and one even strength goal among his seven goals scored. Marchand is the only player in NHL history with a short-handed goal followed by an overtime goal in a Stanley Cup Final game.
Say what you want about his antics in the past but Marchand is a winner and one cannot look past his playoff success.Not many players can do what he has done and have the energy to keep going. At 37 years old, he is proving that age means nothing in the postseason a he is outperforming players much younger.