Bergeron Replaced by Marchand as Captain of Bruins – Hot

“He’ll be one of the leaders,” general manager Don Sweeney said. “I think we’ve crossed organizationally by committee, leadership down, not to rest on anyone’s shoulders, although Brad is well prepared to be in this position and I think he would be the first to tell you it’s a privilege to be named captain and follow in the footsteps of somebody that he was very close with and learned from and I think you’ll take a lot from these experiences that he’s spent with Zdeno and Patrice and then he’ll be his own person.

“And Brad has his own unique qualities that we all love, and he may have to continue to grow in some areas and lean on other people and we fully expect him to do all those things because he was the right person at this point in time and where this organization is, and he’ll do a fabulous job.”

Marchand suspected he was going to be named captain when he was invited to dinner with Sweeney, Bruins president Cam Neely and coach Jim Montgomery, but it took some time during the meal before the topic came up.

“We’re talking small talk and stories from the past and whatnot, just kind of having a conversation,” Marchand said. “I’m a little quiet because I want to know what’s happening, like, ‘What are we doing here?’ Then Cam spoke up and brought it up and kind of let me know and ‘Sweens’ and ‘Monty’ both spoke after that.

“Again, I was extremely proud and honored, a little relieved. At the end of the day, we have a lot of guys that it could go to and that are deserving, but I did want it and I was hoping to have the opportunity.”

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Sweeney credited Marchand for maturing during his career into the leader he’s become. Marchand acknowledged he needed to change how conducted himself following a series of on-ice incidents, including when he licked Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ryan Callahan during the 2018 playoffs.

“My brother said something to me when I told him (he’d been named captain), he said something along the lines of, ‘Four or five years ago, everybody hated you and now you turn around, you’re the captain of the team,'” Marchand said. “It’s pretty incredible the way things change. Perhaps that incident with Callahan was kind of one of those moments where I realized it was getting away from me a little bit. At the time, I don’t think that really kicked in and made me change at that point in time.

“But I think over the next couple of years, it was part of the discussions that were about changing what my legacy was going to be and something that [former Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy] talked to me a lot about. Then, when ‘Bergie’ became captain, I was alongside him every day and that’s really where I got to see what it takes to be at that next level.”