What Brad Marchand Thinks Young Players Need To Do Entering Camp

Brad Marchand enters the centennial season with the Boston Bruins as not only the latest captain in franchise history but also the longest-tenured player on the roster.

Even at 35 years old, the feisty forward remembers what it’s like to be a bright-eyed prospect joining training camp for the first time.

“I remember exactly how I felt, you walk around and see the guys that were on the team last year and almost shut down a little bit,” Marchand explained to reporters following Bruins practice on Wednesday at Warrior Ice Arena. “You’re a little bit enamored by the group and you kind of lock up and freeze up a little bit around them.”

Marchand said while the vets try to interact with and make the younger guys feel comfortable, everyone is there for one reason and one reason only — to make the team.

“Guys are here to earn jobs,” Marchand said. “They have a job to do themselves. So, you can’t always look to older guys to hold your hand. You’ve got to come in prepared and find a way to get noticed. That’s what you’re trying to do, is be that one guy that stands out.”

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While the Bruins brass has the final say on the roster, the leadership group within the locker room does have a lot of pull when it comes to the character of the team and its players.

“When you look at our roster every year, we don’t really have open spots. We have full lineups,” Marchand said. “So, when you come in, it’s who are you going to push out? And that’s what you have to do. So, you can’t come in looking for everyone to kind of help you along. At the end of the day, you’re helping a guy take another guy’s job.

“And the only way that we want that is if they fit in the room and we know they have what it takes to be a part of this group. You definitely want to help the guys come in and be part of the team but at the same time, we only want the guys that year that deserve to be here and show that they belong and I don’t mean that on the ice. I mean that in the room. You need to show you’re a good pro, a good guy, you fit in well with the group.”

The Bruins have played two preseason games so far and a lot of the prospects have had the opportunity to dress in the games.

“The first ones are always really tough,” Marchand said. “They are very sloppy. You haven’t played in four, five months. You’re kind of getting the bugs out. You always expect things to get better as camp goes on and it’s tough on the young guys.

“Sometimes you only get a game or two to impress but you’ve got to make the most of it and usually the game pace picks up as camp goes on and that’s what you look forward to.”

Marchand said he asked to play in the preseason opener but was told no by the coaching staff. He believes that he will play in at least three of the four remaining before the season opens up on Oct. 11 at TD Garden against the Chicago Blackhawks.

“I expect to play the two home games here that we have remaining, but it’s up to them and we just go with it,” he said.

The Bruins will host the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night at TD Garden. Boston will be without head coach Jim Montgomery who has taken a short leave of absence from the team following the passing of his mother Dorothy.