Brad Marchand Channels Inner Bill Belichick: 'We're On To Round 3'
BOSTON (CBS) -- Brad Marchand kept it short and not-so-sweet with reporters after the Bruins eliminated the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night. It earned him a rash of criticism from some in the hockey world, mostly north of the border.
He didn't seem to mind when he took the podium on Wednesday. As the Bruins gear up for Thursday night's Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes, Marchand was still all smiles. In fact, he had some fun with his brief answers from the other night, taking a page out of Bill Belichick's media playbook on Wednesday.
"Hi everyone," he started with a smirk.
Asked why he went with the short answers Monday night, Marchand didn't budge.
"We'll talk about Round 3," he said. "We're on to Round 3."
He said his own version of Belichick's famous "We're on to Cincinnati" line three times to start Wednesday's chat. Then he actually opened up and talked some hockey. While the Bruins are happy to be in the conference finals, they're a long way from accomplishing what they set out to do at the start of the season.
"It's very exciting to be where we're at. But we can't get lost, we're only halfway to where we want to be. We've done what we wanted to accomplish to this point, but we're not satisfied," Marchand said. "We didn't come into the year saying we wanted to make the third round. We want to go the distance.
"You can lose in the third round or not make the playoffs and you're in the same position. At the end of the day the only thing that matters is that you won a Cup," he added. "If not, you're all losers. That's what we're aiming for. We want to get to that end goal. If not, we've accomplished what everyone else has to this point."
Marchand has some pretty good quotes for the press, as long as he actually wants to talk.