Brad Marchand Chirps Matthew Tkachuk When Asked About A Florida Panthers Tradition

On Friday night, Brad Marchand made his highly anticipated Florida Panthers debut, and unsurprisingly, the former Boston Bruins captain had a great game, leading the team to a dramatic victory.

After the game, the rats reigned down on Marchand and the team, with Marchand expressing how grateful and excited he was that Panthers fans were cheering him, rather than booing him after years of being a rival for this team.

He was then asked about the rats, a tradition in Florida that dates back to 1996, and when he was asked about what he believes it means, he had a simple and hilarious response.

Given how the team have embraced players like Tkachuk and Sam Bennett, players that opposing fans would call rats, this certainly isn't a bad guess from Marchand, but the history of this tradition is much older than that, as it has been a key staple of the Panthers franchise since their inception.

Now, the Panthers reign rats down on the ice after every victory, something they did many times a year ago as they captured their first Stanley Cup, and with Marchand, Bennett and Tkachuk set to make up the second line in the post-season this year, there's a chance we could see much more of this moving forward.