Brad Marchand is Olympic material
Improbable Art Ross contender making his case for 2018 Games
Not everything has gone Brad Marchand's way during his magical ride over the last seven months, but it seems like he always has something to celebrate.
Take Monday night. With Bruins legend Bobby Orr marking his 69th birthday, Boston had an opportunity to distance itself from Toronto in the Atlantic Division standings.
The Bruins fell 4-2 as the Maple Leafs completed a sweep of the four-game season series and pulled within a point of Boston, but the red-hot Marchand recorded an assist to keep himself in contention for an improbable scoring title.
Besides putting the former third-round draft pick in elite company near the top of the Art Ross Trophy race, Marchand's second-half surge has seemingly solidified his spot on the Canadian roster if the NHL elects to participate in the Winter Olympics in 11 months' time.
The 28-year-old Marchand was good enough to land a spot on Canada's championship-winning team at the World Cup of Hockey last September. Playing alongside Sidney Crosby and his Bruins teammate Patrice Bergeron, Marchand exhibited his elite-level status with five goals and eight points in six games.
He put an exclamation point on the tournament by scoring the title-winning goal with a short-handed effort in the final minute of the decisive game against Team Europe.
But NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has dragged his feet on a final decision for the 2018 Games, leaving Marchand among those feeling frustrated with the uncertainty.
"I think anyone would be," he said. "For athletes to get themselves to that level where they can have the opportunity to play in the Olympics and then for someone to take that away from you, I don't think that's really fair.
"[But] that's a long way away and there are more important things right now to focus on."
A very good year
Pushing the Bruins into the playoffs after missing the post-season in back-to-back springs is priority No. 1 for Marchand. He insists that the possibility of passing Crosby and Connor McDavid in the Art Ross Trophy race or winning the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's top goal scorer are not as important to him.
But the fact that Marchand is even in the picture after a slow first half is a tribute to how dominant he's been since the calendar flipped to 2017. In that time, the Halifax native leads all players with 27 goals and 49 points in 33 games, including five goals and nine points in three games in Western Canada last week.
Marchand started with a bang last fall with a two-goal, five-point outing in the season opener to build off his World Cup effort. But the 5-foot-9, 181-pound left wing only managed eight goals and 26 points in his next 38 games.
Marchand can't explain his poor first half. But all of a sudden he caught fire with usual linemates Bergeron and David Pastrnak and has played even better since Bruce Cassidy replaced Claude Julien as the Bruins' coach on Feb. 7 and swapped Pastrnak for veteran David Backes on Boston's top line.
After play on Monday — Marchand set up Backes with a dazzling entry into the Maple Leafs' zone for Boston's first goal — Marchand has 37 goals and 80 points in 72 games this season.
He's tied for second in the scoring race with fellow Nova Scotian Crosby (40 goals, 80 points), two points behind McDavid. And Marchand is three goals behind Crosby in the goal-scoring race.
Marchand said he hasn't been texting Crosby to chide him about the scoring race, but that's difficult to believe considering the Bruins forward is one of the top trash talkers in the NHL.
Instead, he took time on Monday to wish the legendary No. 4 a happy birthday.
"Happy birthday to Bobby," Marchand said.
"He's obviously a tremendous icon in this game and he was able to change the way that the defence played their position. He's also an incredible human being. Just the nicest guy you're ever going to meet, so happy birthday to him and many more to come."
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