Brad Marchand is so much more than a pest.
The 5-foot-9, 183-pound Boston Bruins left winger has 15 goals in 31 games, and is on pace to hit the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career, but he can't seem to ditch the label that's been with him since he entered the league in 2009-10 - even though he's been a 20-plus scorer in each non lockout-shortened season since becoming a full-timer in 2010-11.
Marchand opened up to The Boston Globe's Amalie Benjamin on Friday, and admitted his frustration with the fact his reputation doesn't seem to include his 131 career goals.
"It does bother me that I'm just labeled as an agitator when I know I can score goals and I know I can put up points and be a good player," Marchand said. "So yeah, it gets old."
Benjamin points out that Marchand has more goals this season than some major NHL stars: Steven Stamkos and John Tavares. He's also out-scoring Sidney Crosby too, as well as James van Riemsdyk, Claude Giroux, Jeff Carter, Phil Kessel, and Zach Parise, among other notables. For the first time in his career, Marchand's seeing time on the power play, and it's paying off.
"It's something I've looked forward to for a while," he said. "And you can tell it already has an impact."
Marchand has three goals on the man advantage. He had three in the past two seasons combined. And he knows what a difference time at 5-on-4 can make.
"How many 30-goal scorers were there last year?" Marchand said. "It's not the biggest deal, but it's the difference between five or six goals between (25 and) 30 - it's not that many, but it is. When you hit 30 goals, people are - yeah, he's a 30-goal scorer."
Marchand's on pace for 39 goals this year. While he may not end up pushing 40, he should get to 30. And that's big - no pun intended - especially for a guy who's always the last off the ice, who spent his childhood shooting pucks, and who's spent his career proving people wrong.
