COMMENTARY
Halifax sits more than 650 miles away from Boston.
But it didn’t take very long for Bruins fans to accept a 5-foot-9 winger out of Nova Scotia as one of their own.
From his first shifts on the TD Garden ice as a member of the cantankerous Merlot line, Brad Marchand was about as subtle as a gloved jab to Daniel Sedin’s jaw.
Marchand’s reputation as an on-ice antagonist — just as happy to shred a player’s mental fortitude via verbal barbs as he was snapping pucks into twine — made him a divisive figure across the league.