"The Florida Panthers have accomplished several monumental feats. They've made three straight cup finals, are back-to-back champions, and found a way to keep the band together for the foreseeable future with team-friendly contracts. They've done something even more noteworthy than all of that. Their most impressive accomplishment of it all might just be making Brad Marchand likeable. When he was with the Boston Bruins, Marchand was the player the other 31 (or 30, or 29, depending on expansion) fan bases loved to hate."
"To Marchand's credit, he always leaned into his unpopularity to the enjoyment of fans. While being booed at the 2018 NHL All-Star Game, he waved to his haters who were loudly booing at the crowd. In that year's skill competition, he posed and smiled with a group of fans holding an "exterminate the rat" sign at a safe distance behind the glass."
"With the Bruins entering NHL draft lottery territory for the first time in recent memory last offseason, Marchand was shipped off to the Panthers. Since then he's won another cup, signed an extension and become a South Florida fan favorite. Through it all fans that once hated the Canadian have started to grow benevolent at worst or appreciative at best for one of the game's elder statesmen."
The Florida Panthers reached three straight Stanley Cup finals and won back-to-back championships while signing team-friendly contracts to retain key players. The Panthers acquired Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins after Boston entered NHL draft lottery territory. Marchand brought a reputation as a skilled but antagonistic player known for pest-like physicality and controversial incidents. In Florida, Marchand won another Cup, signed an extension, and became popular with South Florida fans. Many fans who previously disliked him have become benevolent or appreciative toward his veteran presence. A change of locale and team context helped soften perceptions and highlight Marchand's on-ice contributions.
Read at Puck Prose
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