Brad Marchand strolls into Team Canada's dressing room during the 4 Nations Face-Off with the knowing grin of somebody dying to stir the pot.
"Man, you guys are fun to watch," he announces to no one in particular.
Marchand, the second-oldest Canadian player at the Olympic tuneup, approaches his stall. "Ho, ho, ho. I might be the biggest fan here."
"Atta boy, Mitchy," Marchand says in the direction of Mitch Marner, who scored an overtime goal against Sweden moments earlier. "Good job, Sid," he says to OT playmaker Sidney Crosby, who famously wears No. 87.
"Nasty, 8-7," Connor McDavid interjects from a stall over.
"Risky play there at the end, 8-7!" Marchand adds with delight.
McDavid turns to face Marchand with the kind of natural, full-faced smile almost never seen from the stoic superstar. He can't wait for the punch line.
"Eh? Between the legs? Back to our zone? Not a big deal!" Marchand continues as Crosby and McDavid, two generational players, share a laugh.
That scene, captured for a mic'd-up social media post, played out on Feb. 12, 2025. Crosby, McDavid, Marchand, and the rest of a stacked Canadian team open a three-game round-robin schedule at the Milan Cortina Games one year to the day with a tilt against Czechia on Thursday.
Marchand, 37, is the oldest NHLer - of any nationality - making his Olympic debut in Italy. It's safe to assume one of the sport's greatest left-wingers, agitators, and off-ice characters won't be wasting a single moment overseas.
"Marchy's not shy around anybody. That's just his personality," Canada defenseman Drew Doughty told theScore when asked about Marchand's antics at national team events. "The on-ice performance is why he made the Olympic team, but how he is off the ice is definitely another aspect of it."
Canada's 22-man skater group features a preposterous 17 first-round picks, including four first overall phenoms and another five top-five selections. The rest: two third-round picks, one fourth-rounder, and two sixth-rounders.
The Boston Bruins selected Marchand in the third round, 71st overall, in 2006. He became a full-time NHLer during the 2010-11 campaign but didn't gain true first-liner status until 2015-16 - after the 2014 Winter Games. The Halifax, Nova Scotia, native enters this year's Olympic tournament with two Stanley Cup rings (Boston 2011, Florida Panthers 2025) and 1,188 points across 1,326 regular-season and playoff games.
Marchand, listed at roughly 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds, is Canada's shortest and lightest player yet arguably its most fearless.
"In those early years, no one was ever talking about Brad being someone who would make it," JP MacCallum, Marchand's offseason trainer for the past 25 years, said recently. "Nobody was having the conversation of, 'Oh yeah, he's going to be a consistent NHLer,' and produce the way he has. No one.
"But he worked on being explosive, powerful. He found a way to define his space on the ice because he was quick, agile in corners, and had tremendous strength for his size. That caught - and still catches - many bigger opponents off guard. It's not every day a 5-foot-9 guy stands you up in the corner."
Marchand's mom, Lynn, told WEEI in 2016 that young Brad was not only an extremely energetic and competitive boy but also a mischievous one. That naughty side got him into loads of trouble over the first 12 or so years of his career.
The man whom Barack Obama referred to as the Little Ball of Hate sucker-punched, elbowed, slew-footed, cross-checked, clipped, speared, and high-sticked his way to an NHL-record eight suspensions totaling 28 games from 2011-22. Marchand was also fined five times during his devilish period, while several other controversial incidents didn't result in supplemental discipline - most notably multiple instances in which he licked an opponent.
"I have done things that have stepped over that line, and I've paid the price for it," Marchand wrote in The Players' Tribune in 2018. "But you know what? There's a lot of people out there in the hockey world who love to say, 'Winning is everything. It's the only thing.' But do they really mean it?
"How far are they willing to go? Maybe it was my size or just the way I was born, but I've always felt like you have to be willing to do anything - literally anything - in order to win. Even if that means being hated."
Before the 2016 World Cup, the so-called Rat King was veering toward a career filled with complementary production and endless drama. The eight-team event turned out to be a confidence-boosting launchpad. Marchand bagged a tournament-high five goals, including the title-clincher.
He then put together the most productive stretch of his life: four straight seasons of 85-plus points (85, 85, 100, 87) in his late 20s and early 30s.
Marchand revealed at the 4 Nations that the World Cup experience made him realize the elite of the elite tend to be irrationally confident in themselves.
"My mindset changed, and I started believing (I could make a major impact) every time I stepped on the ice," he said. "Whether it was true or not, I would tell myself I was the best player. I had that mindset - a little bit of an internal arrogance and confidence - and it helped me get to another level."
While Marchand's peak agitator days are long gone, he hasn't dropped the rat act altogether. The NHL Players' Association asked hundreds of its members which player they least enjoy playing against but would like to have on their team, and Marchand was the top vote-getter during the 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 seasons. He was also crowned the league's best and worst trash talker in 2019-20.
After being on the receiving end of a sucker punch from Sam Bennett in a 2024 playoff game, the former Bruins captain, following a trade to Florida a year later, quickly chirped at Bennett in the Panthers' group chat upon his arrival.
Marchand's recent off-ice antics include sparring with media members on Twitter; talking openly about contentious issues, such as escrow payments and state taxes; "thanking" teammates' old clubs on Instagram while celebrating Florida's 2025 Cup victory; and blaming Maple Leafs fans for Marner's departure.
Love or hate him, Marchand's an entertainer in the entertainment business - a feisty, wisecracking rascal who welcomes the bright lights of stardom.
"He wears that chip on his shoulder so well," said ex-NHL defenseman Jason Demers, who played with Marchand in the QMJHL. "People try to figure out if it's a show, but that's him. He's authentic. What you see is what you get."
Marchand can play wing on any of Canada's forward lines. During Milan practices, he's skated with Nathan MacKinnon, whom he and Crosby train alongside every offseason, and Nick Suzuki. He can be a utility piece on special teams and assume an unofficial spokesperson role with extra media responsibilities.
Having someone with his on-ice versatility and off-ice swagger can only be a positive for the collective psyche of a group trying to win a gold medal.
"He's one of those rare guys that leads not only vocally but also by example," Demers said before suggesting that the mutual respect between Marchand and head coach Jon Cooper could lead to extra ice time. "I could see Brad getting some penalty-killing time, maybe some second-unit power-play time."
Marchand took a leave of absence from the Panthers earlier this season to support MacCallum, whose 10-year-old daughter, Selah, lost a battle with cancer in late October. Back home in Halifax, Marchand helped raise money for the family and coach MacCallum's Under-18 team as the father grieved.
MacCallum says his longtime client and close friend is more or less the same gregarious, hard-working, generous, ultra-competitive dude all these years later. But he's witnessed one key area of growth: Marchand's ability to remain present.
That change has been visible in Italy - when he jumped while a team photo was being taken to avoid looking shorter than everyone else. And as he said, "Oui, je m'appelle Nick Suzuki," in his linemate's ear during a media scrum. And when he picked "hardworking, gritty, handsome" as the three words he'd use to describe his playing style.
"He knows the spotlight on McDavid and on Crosby is so much greater than whatever happens to be on him," MacCallum said. "He can play in the shadows. He can produce then joke around. In any locker room, you want one of those guys that can keep everybody a little loose and break the ice, especially in moments when things get tense or the pressure gets high."
John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter/X (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email ([email protected]).
