Brad Marchand Set For 13th Career Game 7, Looking to Help Florida Panthers Close Out Maple Leafs
Brad Marchand has played in more Game 7s than any other active player — he looks to use that experience to help the Florida Panthers close out the Toronto Maple Leafs
TORONTO — Brad Marchand knows how to navigate Game 7s as well as anyone else in the NHL.
The 37-year-old forward is gearing up for his 13th — the second-most in NHL history behind former Boston Bruins teammates Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara and the most Game 7 appearances by any active player.
“With experience in these games, I think the biggest thing is that it’s very easy to start thinking about the noise and pressures and what it means, the game, the future and all that” Marchand said.
“I think the more times you go through it, you understand the little things within the game and the way you need to focus and prepare, just to embrace it instead of worrying about the pressure and all the things that come with it and the media hype around it.”
Being on both sides of historic Game 7s — defeating the Vancouver Canucks on the road in the Cup Final in 2011, losing to the Panthers after a record-setting regular season in the first round following a 3-1 series comeback and a tying goal from Brandon Montour — he knows things can turn on a dime in these games.
All he and the Panthers can do is prepare themselves to play their game.
“The difference between winning and losing sometimes doesn’t come down to how you play,” Marchand said. “It could be a bounce, it could be a call. You just want to prepare to put your best game on the ice and take care of every detail because one detail is enough to win or lose a game.”
He has played multiple of them against the Maple Leafs, notably helping the Bruins back from down 4-1 in the third period of their 2013 first-round series, notching an assist on Patrice Bergeron’s overtime winner to help stun the packed Toronto crowd.
Marchand is wrapping up his fifth career series against Toronto — and defeated them in seven games with the Bruins just last season — so, he knows how to deal with the hype and the hoopla that comes with playing on Canada’s biggest stage.
“It’s going to be fun,” Marchand said. “You can see how excited this city is to be in this position and we’re right there. Yeah, we’re competing, but we’re also fans of the game and these are the ones that we all love.
“You can feel it already. You can just come into the city and the fans are hooting and hollering around the hotel last night. It’s fun. The fans are going to be extremely loud, and they feed off that. They feed off that emotion, you can see when they are going, their fans are going, so it’s going to make for a fun game.”
That fun Marchand has in these big moments is what made him so valuable for the Panthers when he became available at the NHL Trade Deadline this year.
When things get tight and physical, he is out there with a smile on his face grinding through it, and more times than not, he rises to the occasion with a big play. But the plays on the ice are not the only reason why his experience is so valuable.
The joy he exudes — especially 16 years into a career that is destined for a spot in the Hall of Fame down the road from Scotiabank Arena — is contagious and something that can help re-focus even a team with as much experience as the Panthers do following back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances in the past two seasons.
“As you get older, you appreciate it, right?” Maurice said. “There’s not 13 more, or that would be impressive to say the least.
“Those players understand the joy of it, right? Nobody in the backyard ever said ‘Hey, it’s Game 3,’ right? Or even in the summer, the bases are loaded, it’s the bottom of the ninth always when you dream about it. So, that’s what we’re presented with today so we should be able to enjoy it.”