By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
Tuesday confirmed that we’re witnessing the start of a trash-talking dynasty for Bruins winger Brad Marchand.
A year after being named both the best and worst trash-talker by his NHLPA brethren in the 2019 player’s survey, 2020 came with the same honors for Boston’s beloved agitator-turned-superstar once again, with Marchand picking up a player-best 25.87 percent of the votes for the best and 10.59 percent for the worst on-ice chirper.
Marchand’s verbal on-ice prowess is nothing new, as you can find countless examples of Marchand simply eviscerating the opposition with his words before punishing them in similar fashion on the scoreboard.
Marchand was the only B’s representation on this year’s survey, as linemate Patrice Bergeron also got some love, with No. 37 picking up 25.44 percent of player votes as the game’s most complete player (Sidney Crosby led the way with over 45 percent of the vote). Bergeron also finished fourth in the ‘one player you’d want on your roster if you had to win one game’ category, finishing behind Crosby, Connor McDavid, and Nate MacKinnon, at 3.33 percent.
B’s legend Bobby Orr also made his way onto this survey, as No. 4 finished second in the voting for players you’d pay to see play, at 14.99 percent. Wayne Gretzky led the way in this category, with almost 32 percent of the NHLPA’s votes.