Bruins Captain Brad Marchand Still ‘Picked On’ By Ex-Teammates

BOSTON -- Bruins captain Brad Marchand is the guy in the dressing room these days.

The 35-year-old has earned respect from his peers for years of service to the organization. If any young guys need a lesson in how the Bruins do things, they can turn to Marchand. He's an undoubted leader, which is a change in how people viewed him from early in his career. Marchand originally made his name as one of the biggest "pests" in the NHL, for both opponents and teammates, after all.

He's shown growth, but there's a small group of folks who probably won't ever change their view of the four-time All-Star -- even if he's played 1,000 games.

The Bruins are celebrating another "Era Night" on Thursday, welcoming members of the 2011 Stanley Cup champions back to TD Garden to celebrate the most recent championship run in franchise history. Marchand, being the only member of that team still on the roster, was gifted the opportunity to get back together with his former teammates, but it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows.

"I'm still the guy that gets picked on," Marchand told media members at TD Garden on Thursday. "It's funny. I'm the old guy in here, but when we all get together I'm the young guy again, so the bullying continues. It's fun, everyone has a lot of fun together."

Marchand is the captain now, but he chooses not to flex those muscles to get his former teammates to ease up.

"No," Marchand said when asked if his captaincy eases the jokes. "There are two much bigger, stronger, older captains in that room than me. They'll humble me pretty quick. I've learned that multiple times before. They're a lot of fun to be around."

Marchand will look to make his former teammates proud Thursday, as the Bruins take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden. They'll drop the puck at 7 p.m. ET, following an hour of pregame coverage on NESN.