Brad Marchand had to be there.
That’s the gist of it for the Florida Panthers star. There was no other choice.
His long-time friend, JP MacCallum, lost his 10-year old daughter Selah to cancer.
MacCallum is also the coach of a U18 hockey team in Halifax, the March and Mill Company Hunters.
Marchand, in the middle of the NHL season, flew to Halifax to stand in as the coach for MacCallum.
“It’s a very devastating time,” Marchand told CBC News. “Selah was an incredible girl with so much love and joy and touched so many people’s lives. So I had to be there for them.”
Marchand told CBC News that he had been friends with MacCallum for 25 years.
“We’ve formed into brothers and our families are extremely close,” Marchand said. “He’s been in all the big moments, all the tough times he’s been there for me. He’s been there every step of the way.”
In this moment, Marchand had to be there for his brother, and the Panthers supported him.
“They basically said go home and come back when you’re ready,” Marchand told CBC News.
The game Marchand coached in served as a fundraiser for the MacCallum family.
In the end, it was the only place Marchand could’ve been.
Brad Marchand is taking a leave from the Panthers to spend time in Halifax helping out a friend whose 10 year old daughter died of cancer
He’s coaching a U18 team tonight in his friend’s place
All-Time Human Being
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 30, 2025
MORE: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin make unprecedented NHL history
