Marchand Focused On Conditioning During Offseason, Not Trade Rumors
BOSTON (CBS) -- For Brad Marchand, this summer was not about dwelling on what happened last May.
Last year, the Bruins had a shortened offseason following their trip to the Stanley Cup Final. This summer, Marchand had a little more time following Boston's second round exit at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens, and made the most of his near three-month layoff.
"It wasn't frustrating. I didn't want to dwell on what happened last year, I wanted to focus more on how we can improve and I think that's the focus every summer," Marchand said Tuesday at the Bruins' practice facilities in Wilmington. "I felt my conditioning had to be up a bit. That's where I struggled last year, so I tried to focus on that and more mental aspects of the game. Hopefully that will help me improve."
The 26-year-old forward hopes that by placing a bigger emphasis on conditioning he'll get off to a much better start in 2014-15. While he finished with 25 goals and 28 assists last season, Marchand had just four goals by the end of November.
"I thought I trained well, but I only trained for five weeks last summer. This year we had three months to train so there's a big difference," he noted. "I really can't say exactly why I had a bad start – it could have been a lot of things. But that was something I thought I could improve.
"When you don't have the same conditioning it's tough to keep up with the play. You might have a burst of speed early on in a shift but it dies off quick. So I focused on my endurance, and hopefully that helps."
While he had decent numbers come the end of the season, Marchand put up a big goose egg when it came to finding the back of the net in the playoffs, missing on a handful of open-net chances throughout Boston's two postseason series. He mustered just five assists, and when the dust was settling from a disappointing end to the campaign, his name popped up in trade rumors that would have had him wearing a different sweater come 2014.
But he never let those rumors get to him.
"I never thought for a second that I was going to get traded," Marchand said confidently on Wednesday. "I want to be here; I don't want to go anywhere. I'm not relying on a limited no-trade clause to stick around. I want to show them with my play and my actions that I want to stick around here for a long time."
Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli shot down rumored deals during the summer, and Marchand didn't let them distract him during his offseason.
"You can only focus on the things you can control," he said. "At the end of the day if they have to trade me, I can't control that. Hopefully with my play and my potential ability to help the team, they want to keep me here."
Marchand signed a four-year contract extension in September 2012, which pays him an average salary of $4.5 million per year from the 2013-14 season through the 2016-17 season. He's sure there will be a few more rumors that have his name attached to them through the end of his contract, and told the gathered media on Tuesday he may try and return the favor.
"I wouldn't mind throwing you guys on the trade block for a little bit, but I don't think I can do that," he joked. "I'll start some rumors. I heard some of you are getting fired."
It's good to see the "Little Ball of Hate" still has his sense of humor.
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