Brad Marchand had a bad reputation as a junior player. He was difficult to deal with both for opponents and in some cases with his own teammates. This wasn't some sort of tough guy on ice persona. He'd always been an angry kid, and to his credit has been meeting therapists for much of his life.
Over the long arc of his lifetime, it's been beneficial, undoubtedly, otherwise he would have stopped using that resource, but in the crucial development times of junior hockey, Marchand saw himself traded twice, ending up with his hometown Halifax by the time he was ready to turn professional.
Halifax reached the Finals of the QMJHL playoff in his final year in juniors, and after being a bit too much for the coach, he was a healthy scratch in Game 4, the clinching game, which really must have irked the already angry kid from Halifax who had proven to be an important scorer in his time with not only Halifax, but with Moncton and Val d'Or as well.
And then, to add insult to injury, after the playoffs were over, the Bruins, the team in the NHL that owned his rights, told him to go ahead and spend the winter in Halifax, and come show up for camp in the fall. Marchand came to the Bruins pissed off. Well, even more pissed off than usual, and that irritation and aggression has been slowly leaching off of him for years with verbal and physical jobs, scraps and bring a general nuisance to opponents. Which is good. The Bruins weren't bothered him, and against all odds, he was in the Boston system for 15+ years.
Now that we have Marchand's background, and know that whatever problems he has had have been with him for his entire life, and he is constantly working on himself. That said, I can't tell you what Toronto ever did to him
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