Marchand says Leafs have surpassed Canadiens as the Bruins' "biggest rival"

When Brad Marchand steps foot on the ice tomorrow to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs, it’ll be the 22nd time he’s seen them in the postseason.

Having faced off against the Leafs in three seven-game series in 2013, 2018, and 2019, Marchand’s Bruins have gotten the better of Toronto all three times.

And speaking to the media ahead of his fourth playoff series against Toronto, Marchand was playing nice against his longtime opponents.

“You see the excitement they have all throughout Canada when they’re in playoffs,” Marchand said Thursday, as per NHL.com. “Makes it a lot of fun to play them. And I think, just with the history we’ve had with [Toronto] recently, they’re probably our biggest rival right now over the last decade… it’s a lot of fun to play them.”

Game 1 of the Leafs and Bruins goes Saturday night at TD Garden, with puck drop set for 8 pm ET.

“They’re always extremely competitive,” Marchand added. “You never know which way the series is going to go. But that’s what you want. That’s what you love about hockey is the competition aspect. They’re real competitors over there, especially the way they’re built right now. So it’s going to be a lot of fun, and that’s what playoffs is about. It’s about the best teams going head-to-head.”

Marchand, who won the Stanley Cup in 2011 with the Bruins and has fallen in two other Cup Final series in 2013 and 2019, was named captain of the team in 2023 following the retirement of Patrice Bergeron. He’s played in 146 playoff games throughout his career, which has included a pair of series back in 2011 and 2014 against the Montreal Canadiens, another longtime Original Six rival.

But for Marchand, it’s Toronto that’s moved into enemy No. 1 territory down in Boston.

“They’ve probably surpassed Montreal and any other team with kind of where our rivalry’s gone, just because we’ve both been so competitive with each other, and we’ve had a few playoff series,” Marchand added. “It definitely brings the emotion, the intensity, up in the games and the excitement for the fans.”

You might also like:
• Sportsnet reveals broadcasters for Leafs-Bruins playoff series