Brad Marchand is a professional hockey player currently with the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League.http://bruins.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8473419&view=bio Despite his relative lack of size at 5'9” and 183 pounds, he is considered by many as one of the top prospects in the Bruins' organization.http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospect/brad_marchand

On November 3, 2010, Marchand scored a shorthanded, breakaway goal that helped the Bruins to a 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres, marking his first goal in 29 career games in the NHL.http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=542514 His goal eight seconds into the third period sparked a three-goal Boston rally to lead the Bruins over the Florida Panthers on November 24, 2010.http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bruins/extras/bruins_blog/2010/11/updates_from_br_8.html

Marchand has three goals and five assists through the first 21 games of the 2010-2011 NHL season. He has also picked up 12 penalty minutes. Of his first three goals of the 2010-2011 season, two have been shorthanded, ranking him second in the league as of November 28, 2010.http://bruins.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8473419&view=stats He has frequently brought energy and physicality to the fourth line, serving in a role that Shawn Thornton filled in previous seasons.http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nhl/columns/story?columnist=murphy_james&id=5708931

Marchand started the 2009-2010 season with the Providence Bruins of the AHL before being called up to Boston.http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospect/brad_marchand While in Providence he had 13 goals and 19 assists in 30 games to go with 51 penalty minutes. He netted one assist and 12 penalty minutes in 20 games with Boston.http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=80463

Marchand was drafted in the third round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft after a stellar junior hockey career, winning a QMJHL title with Moncton in 2005-2006.http://bruins.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8473419&view=bio Marchand was a member of Team Canada, winning gold medals at the World Junior Championships in 2007 and 2008.http://bruins.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8473419&view=bio While playing in the AHL and junior hockey leagues, Marchand earned a reputation as an agitator skilled at getting under the skin of opposing players.http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bruins/articles/2010/11/05/marchand_will_wait_before_creating_a_stir/