Marchand to Finals

Halifax Mooseheads alumni Brad Marchand is off to the Stanley Cup finals once again after he and the Boston Bruins swept the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight with a 1-0 Game 4 win. Marchand assisted on the only goal of the game which came at 5:01 of the third period. With the assist, the fourth year player concluded the Eastern Conference Finals with 2 goals and 2 assists in 4 games. He now has 13 points in the first three rounds. The Bruins will now play the winner of the Chicago/Los Angeles series. I believe that Chicago will win tomorrow night in Game 5.

The Boston Bruins have now beat both of my favourite teams in this year's playoffs. The funny thing is that the Toronto Maple Leafs (who were not projected to make the playoffs let alone as the 5th seed in the East) were a tougher opponent to beat than the New York Rangers and the Penguins combined.

Marchand, who grew up in the St. Margaret's Bay area of Nova Scotia, was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2004 QMJHL draft by the Moncton Wildcats. He played two seasons with the Wildcats before being traded to Val-d'Or Foreurs and finally playing his last 26 junior games with the Herd in the 2007-2008 season. He recorded 29 points while with his hometown team and added 19 more points in 14 playoff games that season as the Moose went on to the QMJHL semifinals only to lose in a sweep to Gatineau.