The Panthers Are Still in the Limelight

The first time Brad Marchand won a Stanley Cup, with the Boston Bruins, his celebrations included a six-figure bar tab and a misspelled tattoo that read: “Champians.” He partied so hard at Foxwoods Casino that when it came time to sit down for an interview with the crew putting together the commemorative Stanley Cup champion DVD the next day, the still loopy Marchand was politely excused. Later, when the team visited the White House, then-President Barack Obama referred to Marchand as “the Little Ball of Hate” and interrupted his own prepared remarks to ask: “What’s up with that nickname, man?” The year was 2011, and the puckish, pugilistic Marchand was 23 years old.