Florida Panthers’ Brad Marchand plays key role in second championship run

SUNRISE Fla AP Brad Marchand sure made himself at home in Florida Now he s a two-time Stanley Cup champion Getting Marchand at the transaction deadline from Boston for what ended up being a single first-round pick turned out to be a genius move by Florida as he scored six often timely goals against Edmonton in the final while providing vocal and physical leadership every shift It culminating with a achievement in Meeting on Tuesday night that left him grinning on the ice with his fellow Panthers The -year-old winger had wondered if he d be returning to his roots as a fourth-liner but instead had a major impact on the third line alongside young Finns Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen These days go by very fast so you got to appreciate them It feels pretty special right now he announced during the celebration It s been a long time A lot of ups and downs and considering where we are right now and where the organization started I couldn t imagine a better feeling than this Marchand hoisted the Cup again years after winning it with the Bruins in against Vancouver Among his signature moments the Nova Scotia native scored two highlight-reel goals in Battle at Edmonton to put the Panthers ahead in a heavyweight final H s been amazing for us all playoffs teammate Matthew Tkachuk reported He seems to keep finding other gear The more vital the encounter the better he is Marchand reported he felt at home with his new club We just had that fire We knew we had something special he declared It s such an incredible values and everyone that s come in here it s like we ve been here a lot longer than a minimal months It s a family Guys love each other in this room You buy into it right away Guys embrace you It s incredible Getting Marchand was an th-hour move Coach Paul Maurice was about to leave the association s practice facility a half-hour before the deadline when general manager Bill Zito came out of his office and mentioned What about Brad Marchand If he had requested that a year and a half ago I would ve thought he was joking Maurice revealed But he s been able to find these players that we didn t think were feasible and he s been able to get these deals done When he fired that out I think there was a bit of a pause his face was serious everybody nodded and that s it Marchand for what turned out to be a first-round pick seems like a steal even if he departs as a free agent this summer He turned out to be an ideal fit and was a big reason the Panthers went back to back He just happened to be the perfect style of competitor to take that line to a utterly different level and that s where our need was Maurice announced What Bill has consistently done here in my experience he s identified the need and filled the hole On the ice Marchand was a breath of fresh air and maybe the final piece of the puzzle He also brought his trademark mouth to the equation dependably chatting guys up and filling the void for noise when necessary With Brad the whole room knows so there s no secrets of what he is as a member as a competitor Zito explained Getting to know him a little bit more as a human he s more special than I could have imagined on that front as a teammate and as a character human From that standpoint it was like frosting on the cake Will he be back We ll see what happens here soon Marchand declared before heading off to celebrate