SUNRISE, Fla. -- Brad Marchand is a professional hockey player and professional chirper. He's excellent at hockey. He might be even better at chirping.
A chirp, loosely defined in hockey terms, is an insult. A wisecrack. The ones toward opponents, you might (and probably do) mean those. The ones toward teammates, not so much.
Which brings us to the Florida Panthers' locker room on Thursday night, after Marchand scored his first goal for his new team - the first time he scored in the NHL for anyone other than the Boston Bruins.
Teammate Evan Rodrigues was asked what he thought of the goal.
"He's a rat," Rodrigues said. "Yeah, I wasn't too happy."
Marchand, sitting nearby, smiled broadly when he heard. Obviously, Marchand wasn't going to let Rodrigues' chirp go unanswered.
"He's not wrong," Marchand said. "I've hated him. We skated together in the summer and I've hated him for a long time, so that's not going to change now."
Let's be perfectly clear here: Neither Rodrigues nor Marchand was being serious. (We don't think so, anyway.) But the fact that Rodrigues even tried to pull off a chirp while talking to about a dozen reporters helps to illustrate one of the things that Marchand brings to the Stanley Cup champions.
He has swagger; if the Panthers wondered about that, he joined the team group chat with - what else? - a chirp as his introduction. He's cocky. He's a talker. Those are all good things come playoff time, with the Panthers set to start defense of the Cup in the next couple of weeks.
"That's a part of the package and an important part of it," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "Everybody's going to be wired here in 10 days, whatever it is, two weeks. Especially right now, grinding through some of these, he brings lots of energy, right? He's got lots to say and it makes it fun."
Marchand's goal capped a three-goal second period for Florida, one that gave the Panthers a 3-1 lead on the way to a 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
Marchand was playing in his eighth game for Florida, after the team pulled off a stunning move at the trade deadline and acquired him from the Bruins - who have been a postseason rival of the Panthers in recent years. Many in the crowd Thursday gave a standing ovation when the goal was announced as Marchand's "22nd of the season and first as a Florida Panther."
Marchand had two assists in his first seven games with Florida, including one in his debut with the Panthers on March 28 that set up an overtime winner by Sam Bennett. Marchand's first goal came on his 15th shot with Florida.
"I'm just enjoying this whole journey," Marchand said. "It's such a unique experience for myself and I've been part of really good teams that have accomplished big things and some that haven't. Regardless, what you realize is that these opportunities are very few and far between and you've got to enjoy every day in this league. And I'm having a lot of fun right now."