Marchand’s candid response to records Bruins could potentially break originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins are trending toward being the best regular season team in NHL history.
They are on pace to break the Montreal Canadiens’ record of 132 points set during the 1976-77 season. They also are on pace to surpass the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings’ and 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning’s record for most wins at 62. The Bruins will become the fastest team to 50 wins if they emerge victorious in one of their next three games. .
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These records are cool, but the Bruins aren’t generating much, if any, extra motivation from them.
In fact, it doesn’t sound like they’re thinking about them much at all.
“People have talked a lot about some of these records, that we could potentially hit or we have hit. Nobody cares about those in this room,” Bruins forward Brad Marchand recently told ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. “We could care less about any of these regular-season records. Because they really don’t mean anything.
“Before we were going through this season, if you asked any of the guys on this team who owned any of those records, nobody would know, because nobody cares. Because it’s not about the regular season. If you win the Presidents’ Trophy but you don’t win the Cup, nobody cares. That’s what we know on this team. As soon as somebody brings it up, it’s in one ear and out the other. We’re just focused completely on trying to get better.”
For a veteran team like the Bruins — one that has lost twice in the Stanley Cup Final since winning a title in 2011 — the only goal is winning a championship. Anything less than that in 2023 would be a massive disappointment.
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Staying sharp late in the season when the standings are no longer much of a factor can be a challenge.
Luckily for the Bruins, 14 of their final 20 games are against teams currently in a playoff spot or within six points of one entering Thursday. So they should get plenty more tough tests before the playoffs begin in mid-April.
“We want to win every game,” Marchand told Wyshynski. “Being prepared to do that will make us prepared for the playoffs. But it’s also the time of year when teams are pushing for the playoffs and spots in the standings. Each game is valuable to them. It’s going to push us to play some really intense playoff games and we’re looking forward to that challenge.”