TORONTO – Count Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock among the card-carrying members of the Brad Marchand Fan Club.
Perhaps it was a way to soften up the Bruins winger prior to Saturday’s puck drop after he dumped a couple of goals on the Blue Jackets and totaled five points in winning, dominant fashion on Thursday, but the Leafs bench boss and Team Canada head coach said he saw “a star” in the Bruins' impressive comeback win vs. Columbus.
It’s the exact same level of performance that Babcock watched in the World Cup of Hockey with Marchand posting five goals and eight points in six games for Team Canada.
“I thought Marchy was a star,” said Babcock of No. 63’s game vs. Columbus. “He was unbelievable. I thought Backes played really strong. It just goes to show that when you go to an event [like the World Cup] and you earn the confidence by playing really good, and feeling really good about yourself, you can carry that on to your team. We’re going to be sure that he doesn’t have a lot of room out there.
“[The World Cup] was just an affirmation of how good he is. He had 37 goals last year and that’s not by accident. You’ve got to earn those. [Patrice Bergeron] is a really smart player, but obviously Marchy bring a lot to the table too. Anytime you’re around the best players in the world and you feel like you’re an important player on the team, you learn how to win one more time.”
Babcock actually drew a comparison from Marchand to Patrick Kane in the way he was doing much more than simply skating his lane in the absence of Bergeron, and that perhaps comes from the growing confidence that he can take over a hockey game when his team needs it.
“Winning is an amazing thing, and so is earning that confidence. In the last game he played a little more even like a center going back and bringing the puck up a little bit,” said Babcock of Marchand, who leads the NHL with five points in the early going of the season. “It’s more like [Patrick] Kane does carrying the puck more where he used to be more of a fore-checking pest. He carried the puck more last game. He’s a really good player.”
Boston Bruins
Don’t expect Babcock to tell Marchand any of this in person, however. The coach said he and the Nova Scotia native spent most of their time talking about hunting moose while in conversation with each other and the Nose Face Killah confirmed that when asked about it following Boston’s morning skate the Air Canada Centre.