On the ice, Brad Marchand is among the NHL’s fiercest, most emotional competitors. But the Boston Bruins winger is much different off the ice.
Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper learned that first-hand during the NHL’s All-Star weekend, which Marchand took center stage in.
Ahead of the Lightning’s second-round Stanley Cup playoff series with the Bruins, Cooper spoke about his experience with Marchand.
“I was fortunate at the All-Star Game to meet him on and off the ice and I spent a little time with him,” Cooper said Friday, via the Boston Herald’s Rich Thompson.”It was actually disappointing. I was hoping he was going to be an idiot. I was hoping I wasn’t going to like him.
“But he was unreal. It’s amazing a guy that was that kind of nice and outgoing and friendly was the same guy that jumps on the ice. You’ve got to respect that about him. When he jumps on the ice that kid comes to play and you have to respect that.”
The respect between Cooper and Marchand is mutual.
“I felt the same way about him,” Marchand said of Cooper, via Thompson. “He was a very nice guy, very easy-going but I don’t know much about his coaching style and how he deals with guys in the room.
“It was a lot of fun hanging with him a bit.”
Although Marchand and Cooper clearly like each other, both men obviously want the other to struggle in the Eastern Conference semifinal matchup, which gets underway Saturday in Tampa.
And after a trying series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Bruins will have their work cut out for them against the top-seeded Lightning, who perhaps are the most talented squad in the league.
