When you get voted as ‘the player your opponents least enjoy playing against, but would like to have on their team’ thrice in a row, you know you are a walking, talking contradiction. Adored by fans in Boston and now celebrated as one of the Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup heroes, Brad Marchand has always been a polarizing figure, unlike, let’s say, a Sidney Crosby, who’s hardly ever divided fans. After all, the Rat can hardly pay a visit to Toronto without inviting boos from the stands. But Marchand, himself, has never cared to go out of his way to mend his reputation.

“To be honest, I never really cared. Fans get a very small insight into who we are as people. They watch the games and they build opinions on players off who they are on the ice. Fans that I meet and interact with, I think they have a different perception,” he said back in May as reported by The Canadian Press. The Florida Panthers, too, who had been Marchand’s division rivals until recently, have found him to be quite endearing. “Good person and fun to be around. Great poker player as well,” teammate Aaron Ekblad confessed. This other side of the “Little Ball of Hate” is perhaps something that the hockey community needs to be reminded of from time to time, and that is exactly what a certain NHL insider did.

In case you have been wondering what Brad Marchand has been up to lately, look no further than NHL Tonight host Tony Luftman, because he just shared updates of Brad Marchand’s Stanley Cup celebrations on a recent segment of NHL Tonight. For starters, he shared an X update by Vice President of the Hockey Hall of Fame and the ‘Keeper of the Cup’, Philip Pritchard, who caught Marchand pulling up at a Tim Horton’s drive-through in Middle Sackville, Nova Scotia, with the Stanley Cup and almost ordering a Boston Cream donut.

Then came snippets of his celebrations with Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon, along with some close friends. And it was at this point that Luftman thought that he should remind the hockey community about something that it may find hard to digest. “This is something that some hockey fans would not want to hear, but I gotta tell you. Keep it real, tell it straight. The guy [Marchand] is a consummate pro behind the scenes. I know that there are tons of fan bases that can’t stand Brad Marchand. The truth is, he knows what he is doing on the ice, but off the ice? Total pro—like really classy, great dude.” 

In 2019, a young Boston Bruins fan named Jillian Murphy wasn’t able to get closer to the ice to see the Bruins warm up, as she was in a wheelchair. But then, after she and Marchand connected on Twitter (now X), Marchand not only sent her tickets to a Bruins game but also invited her to the dressing room. 

“That was unbelievable. He introduced me to many of the players and the coaching staff, and the tour of the dressing room was definitely not something I expected, and he gave me a signed Winter Classic jersey,” the lucky young fan later said. Certainly, assessing someone like that warrants more nuance than some fans are happy to spare. And certainly, a class act like that deserves to celebrate his second Stanley Cup-winning season with the people he is closest to. That’s exactly what he has been doing. 

How Brad Marchand celebrated with MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby 

It’s been a month since the Panthers’ Stanley Cup rally at Fort Lauderdale Beach, but the celebrations are far from over. For instance, Seth Jones took the Stanley Cup to the Children’s Health StarCenter Valley Ranch in Texas before visiting a community rink, where he took a few pictures with youth hockey players. Meanwhile, Matthew Tkachuk did something that perhaps only he can think of as he literally took Lord Stanley behind bars at the Brentwood Police Department. Marchand, on the other hand, turned his celebrations into a full-blown Nova Scotia hockey reunion.

Back in his hometown of Halifax, Marchand wasn’t alone in celebrating his championship moment. But two of the biggest names to ever come out of the province joined Marchand: Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon. The trio, all proud Nova Scotians and long-time friends, gathered around the Cup. It wasn’t just a personal milestone for Marchand, but a powerful moment for an entire region that lives and breathes hockey.

The celebration had the feel of a private backyard get-together, but the guest list made it anything but ordinary. Marchand’s wife, Katrina, posted a photo showing her husband alongside Crosby and MacKinnon. All three grinning with hockey’s most coveted prize in the front, surrounded by close friends. For fans, the photo quickly became something special: three hometown heroes, together again, with the Stanley Cup as the centerpiece. It was a quiet but powerful reminder of just how deep the hockey roots run in Halifax. 

The three Nova Scotia natives helped Canada win the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, showcasing their chemistry on the international stage, in another picture shared by MacKinnon on his Instagram story. In that story, Colorado Avalanche forward and Pittsburgh Penguins captain can be seen wearing matching black ‘BM63’ hats alongside Marchand. The tribute hats, honoring Marchand’s initials and jersey number, highlighted their bond and mutual respect. The image quickly gained traction among fans, celebrating not just their friendship but also the legacy Marchand continues to build.