'I didn't think I'd be in the lineup': Brad Marchand opens up after second straight Olympics scratch

The first three games of the 2026 Olympics were all used by Team Canada to make a point, and after outscoring their opponents 20-3 in that time, they've put the rest of the tournament on notice as gold medal favourites.

They've done so while not being 100% healthy either, with Winnipeg's Josh Morrissey absent from the lineup, but also out of the lineup has been Brad Marchand, who missed the last two games as a healthy scratch.

Ahead of their quarterfinals matchup against either Czechia or Denmark, Head Coach Jon Cooper has now revealed that Marchand will be back in the lineup, with the team needing him to stay healthy ahead of the most important games in the tournament.

That comes despite the forward group averaging just under 7 goals per game in the group stage, and now, as a result of their play, Marchand opens up, admitting that he not only thought he'd lost his spot in the team, but that coming into the tournament, he didn't think he'd have a spot in the starting lineup.

This will cause a shakeup to Canada's lineup that's had so much success early in the tournament, and given the way Marchand lifted for the Panthers Stanley Cup run a year ago, if they can get that type of play again, Canada's chances at a gold medal only increase moving forward.

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