‘I feel like I'm home': Brad Marchand serves Panthers fans Dairy Queen after Cup win
Brad Marchand, barely 60 hours after winning the Stanley Cup for the second time in his 16-season NHL career, emerged from the kitchen of the Dairy Queen in Sunrise late Friday morning with a tray full of chocolate chip cookie dough Blizzards.
'Best day of my life,' Marchand said.
Marchand credits the dessert chain for a lot of the Florida Panthers' postseason success after he and several teammates made a post-dinner trek there during the Eastern Conference final and began winning.
So it was only natural that one of his post-Cup meet-and-greets with fans would be at a DQ, where hundreds of fans lined up on short notice to meet the veteran forward and get free ice cream hand delivered by him.
For the day, at that location, the chocolate chip cookie dough Blizzard was called the 'Brad Blizzard' and instead of chocolate chips, it contained 'chocolate chirps.'
'It's been incredible the last couple days, but I think this tops it all off,' said Marchand, his voice hoarse from all the celebrating with his teammates since clinching the championship Tuesday night with a 5-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. 'It legit brings me back to my childhood, and it's been an incredible few days. So much love down here in Florida. There's always been a lot of talk about it not being a hockey city, but it's pretty evident that there's so much love down here for the game of hockey, and it's pretty incredible to be part of it.'
It's something Marchand never expected would happen. Up until the Boston Bruins traded him to the Panthers in March for what became a first-round draft pick, he was a villain of sorts in South Florida. He was on the opposite end of a pair of bitter playoff series in 2023 and 2024, both of which Florida won.
But since he got to Florida, he was accepted with open arms and was a major reason the Panthers repeated. He scored 10 goals, including six in the Cup Final series alone, and had 20 points throughout the postseason.
'It's been special,' Marchand said. 'From a fan base that was not very fond of me and I wasn't very fond of them, it's done a full 180. They completely embraced me and allowed me to be part of this team in the city and very appreciative for it.'
His time in Florida might be up soon, though. He's slated to become a free agent on July 1.
But by the way he talked on Friday and the way he has talked over his brief tenure here, Marchand doesn't sound like a guy who wants to leave any time soon.
'I feel like I'm home,' Marchand said as he was talking with fans. 'I am home, aren't I?'
His message to Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito:
'Give me a contract!'
If he does stay, there's a request to put a Dairy Queen in Amerant Bank Arena, as well.
How the Dairy Queen tradition started
It all began when a half dozen Panthers players — Marchand, fellow forwards Carter Verhaeghe and Eetu Luostarinen\ and defensemen Niko Mikkola, Uvis Balinskis and Jaycob Megna — going on a Dairy Queen run between Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference final in Raleigh. A photo of a fan meeting the group went viral.
'We were just going for a walk,' Marchand said. 'We wanted to walk off our dinner. We got up Dairy Queen for dessert, and it became this huge organic moment throughout the playoffs.'
The Panthers won that game against Carolina 5-2. They made four more trips throughout the playoffs — ahead of Game 5 against the Hurricanes as well as Games 2, 5 and 6 in the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers, with the size of the group increasing during the Cup Final. Florida went 5-0 in the games following Dairy Queen runs.
The Panthers even made a T-shirt commemorating the DQ runs, depicting the original six from the first trip eating ice cream in their home red sweaters around a Stanley C. Panther-themed ice cream truck.
Did Marchand also eat a Blizzard during a game?
During Game 3 of the conference final against the Hurricanes, a Sportsnet camera caught Marchand eating something off a spoon during the second intermission.
When asked postgame about his midgame treat and if it happened to be a Blizzard, Marchand smiled.
'You can't beat it,' Marchand said. 'It's the best dessert in the world.'
Except... it's not what he was eating prior to the Panthers finishing off the eventual 6-2 win, one in which Florida scored five goals in the final frame.
So what was on the spoon that cameras caught him with?
'Honey,' Marchand said.
As for talking about Dairy Queen?
'I was kind of making a joke,' Marchand said. 'I think people took it seriously. The amount of messages I got about people going to Dairy Queen yesterday — I appreciate the support. I love a good Blizzard more than anybody, but it's not something I've had in the middle of a game ... yet.'
As for the honey? There's a story behind that, too.
'I've always loved honey,' Marchand said. 'Actually, when I was growing up, I loved Winnie the Pooh. So I used to have a Winnie the Pooh bear and I would feed him honey. It was covered — covered — and rock hard. I've always enjoyed it.'
Marchand living up Stanley Cup celebrations
Marchand certainly has enjoyed himself the past few days as the Panthers celebrate their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship — and he enjoys the second of his career and first since 2011.
He was one of the lives of the part at both the Elbo Room on Wednesday and at E11even on Thursday night.
Prior to the trip to the Miami nightclub on Thursday, Marchand and the team dined at Maple & Ash. While there, Marchand uploaded 20 photos to his Instagram story thanking the various former teams of his current teammates, plus the former clubs of coach Paul Maurice and Zito, for allowing the Panthers team in its current form to come together.
Teammates followed suit by thanking Boston for sending Marchand to Florida.
'We all have our own story ... but we all got here,' Marchand said. 'It all played a part in this team winning the Cup.'
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