BOSTON — For the last several years, the postgame interviews after the Bruins’ last game of each season had one thing in common. Reporters asked Patrice Bergeron about his future and whether he planned to keep playing until he actually did retire last summer.
At 36, Brad Marchand, Bergeron’s successor as Boston’s captain, is at an age where it would be worth asking him the same question, especially coming off a concussion that forced him out of two playoff games.
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But nobody asked because nobody wondered after Friday’s loss to Florida. Marchand is coming back next year and probably for as many years as he can after that. He was already talking about next year after the game.
But as he stood in front of his locker disappointed that another season was behind him, it was clear that the weight of a missed opportunity sat heavy on his mind.
“We expected better. It’s tough when the season ends. We still thought that we had more in us and we had a higher ceiling,” he said. “The longer you play, the more you realize how hard it is to win and just how perfect everything has to line up.”
But it was more than just failing to win a Stanley Cup that was gnawing at him. When a team scatters at the end of the season, there’s a good chance the players will never all be in the same room together again. The end always comes fast. Marchand wasn’t ready for the group to break up yet.
“Being part of a team like this, you appreciate it because it doesn’t happen every year and you never know when the next opportunity is going to be if you ever get one again,” he said. “I definitely don’t take it for granted. I really can’t even put into words how proud I am of this group from where we started. Everybody wrote us off and said we wouldn’t even be a playoff team. We had a lot of new guys and a lot of new roles. Guys came in and we built something special. It started in the room and carried on to the ice.”
It’s why sitting out Games 4 and 5 against the Panthers in concussion protocol bothered him as much as it did. As a first-year captain, he wanted to be alongside his teammates regardless of result.
“You want to go through it together. We built something all year. You want to be part of it. Whether you win or you lose, you want to be in there in the fight with the guys and experience every moment because you never know when you’re going to get it again,” he said. “That’s what makes it so fun coming to the rink every day is who we get to be with, who we get to play with and grow with.”
Marchand was proud of the growth of his leadership too.
“I think I’ve kind of found my way towards the end of the season,” he said. “There’s definitely some times throughout the year that I wish I could kind of get back. I kind of lost my emotions a bit and I was letting that show. That’s stuff I got to get away from. But I like the growth. I still think there’s room to grow. There always is, but I’m kinda happy where I got to, but I still think I can be better.”
And he’s planning to better next year with retirement nowhere in sight.
“I’m looking forward to next year,” he said. “To be way more comfortable right off the hop.”
Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.
