Panthers pay tribute to Brad Marchand's 1,000th point with pregame ceremony

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Brad Marchand's first NHL point came just 26 seconds into the second period of his first game with the Boston Bruins. It seemed very easy, so easy that he was certain he'd be all over the scoresheets on a regular basis.

Oops. Nearly a full year passed before his second NHL point.

“After the first, I'm like, ‘Oh, this, it’s not too hard,'” Marchand said. “But I had a pretty rude awakening after that. You just see how hard it is every night to play in this league.”

He has never forgotten the lessons that came after that first point, what it was like to go scoreless in 21 consecutive games, how it felt to get sent down from Boston to the team's minor league affiliate in nearby Providence. And they were still in mind Tuesday night, when the Florida Panthers — who acquired him in a trade last season — paid tribute to Marchand joining the NHL's 1,000-point club in a pregame ceremony before playing host to the Montreal Canadiens.

Marchand hit the milestone more than a month ago; the Panthers let him and his family choose when they wanted to have the ceremony, and this game was the pick. Flowers were presented to Marchand's wife and mother, gold mini-sticks were presented to his three children. The NHL sent a Tiffany crystal to present to Marchand, and he got a commemorative gold stick and plaque from Panthers hockey operations president and general manager Bill Zito as well.

Several NHL coaches and players sent video tributes as well, including many of his former Bruins teammates as well as Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby. “Super proud of you,” former Bruins teammate Zdeno Chara said.

Marchand watched the ceremony from a corner of the ice, surrounded by family.

“I have all my family in town,” Marchand said. “These are moments throughout your career that don't happen often. It's a great opportunity to celebrate things that I definitely never thought would ever become possible. ... It's a great opportunity for everyone to enjoy a very special thing.”

Getting to 1,000 points is a testament to plenty of things, his longevity included. Marchand had 100 points in a season exactly once; he's basically been just about a point-a-game guy for the entirety of his 17-year career.

“It's just such a large milestone to hit,” Marchand said. “Your dream is to play a game in the NHL. I never really thought about what it takes to get to this point. You hope to play and then stay. That's all you're really worried about is just trying to stay and hold onto it for as long as you can. Even when I was 10 years in I didn't think that this was possible.”

Panthers coach Paul Maurice often tells a story of last season's playoffs, a first-round game at Tampa Bay where Florida was down 5-1 late in Game 3 of that series. Everyone was ready for Game 4, except Marchand, who was shouting encouragement to teammates and trying to get a comeback try started.

No rally happened, but what Marchand did that night still resonates with his coach.

“He’s not 25 anymore," Maurice said of the 37-year-old Marchand. "What he’s been able to do, the consistency of his game, has been incredibly impressive. I think you’ll find, older players, when they get into the playoffs, can find another level, but October through Christmas, sometimes they may not. The juice is hard to find. But not for him.”

It was fitting that the ceremony came with Montreal in town; the Canadiens were a huge rival for Marchand for all those years he spent with the Boston Bruins, and coach Martin St. Louis — another pesky, diminutive forward who just knew how to put pucks in nets, just like Marchand — is one of the Panthers' star's idols.

“It's always a special team to play,” Marchand said. “And it's pretty cool to have Marty on the bench, being my favorite player growing up.”

Marchand got the first 976 points of his career with the Bruins. He joined Florida in a trade that shocked many — especially given how the Bruins and Panthers had developed a playoff rivalry in recent years — late last season. The Panthers went on to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup, which was the second Cup of Marchand’s career as well.

And Tuesday was the Panthers' final game before the calendar flips to 2026. By any measure, 2025 — with the trade, a Cup and a milestone point — was a year for Marchand to remember.

“It was a hell of a year,” Marchand said. “Lot of ups and downs, but if I could categorize it, I'm just very grateful for all of it.”

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Florida Panthers left wing Brad Marchand, left, kisses his wife Kartrina, second from left, as family members look on as he is recognized for having reached 1,000 NHL points before an NHL hockey game between the Florida Panthers and the Montréal Canadiens, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Panthers left wing Brad Marchand, left, waves as he stands with family members as he is recognized for having reached 1,000 NHL points before an NHL hockey game between the Florida Panthers and the Montréal Canadiens, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito, left, presents left wing Brad Marchand, second from left, with a golden stick as family members look on as he is recognized for having reached 1,000 NHL points before an NHL hockey game between the Florida Panthers and the Montréal Canadiens, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Panthers' Brad Marchand (63) looks at referee Francois St Laurent (8) as he heads to the penalty box during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Florida Panthers left wing Brad Marchand (63) celebrates his goal with teammates in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Rhona Wise)

Florida Panthers center Evan Rodrigues (17) and left wing Brad Marchand (63) celebrate their win against the Washington Capitals following an NHL hockey game, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Rhona Wise)

President Donald Trump's administration announced on Tuesday that it is freezing child care funds to Minnesota and demanding an audit of fraud schemes involving government programs.

Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill said on the social platform X that the move is in response to “blatant fraud that appears to be rampant in Minnesota and across the country.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pushed back on X, saying fraudsters are a serious issue that the state has spent years cracking down on but that this move is part of “Trump’s long game.”

“He’s politicizing the issue to defund programs that help Minnesotans,” Walz said.

O'Neill referenced a right-wing influencer who posted a video Friday claiming he found that day care centers operated by Somali residents in Minneapolis had committed up to $100 million in fraud. O’Neill said he has demanded Walz submit an audit of these centers that includes attendance records, licenses, complaints, investigations and inspections.

“We have turned off the money spigot and we are finding the fraud,” O’Neill said.

The announcement comes one day after U.S. Homeland Security officials were in Minneapolis conducting a fraud investigation by going to unidentified businesses and questioning workers.

There have been years of investigations that included a $300 million pandemic food fraud scheme revolving around the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, for which 57 defendants in Minnesota have been convicted. Prosecutors said the organization was at the center of the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud scam, when defendants exploited a state-run, federally funded program meant to provide food for children.

A federal prosecutor alleged earlier this month that half or more of the roughly $18 billion in federal funds that supported 14 programs in Minnesota since 2018 may have been stolen. Most of the defendants in the child nutrition, housing services and autism program schemes are Somali Americans, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota.

O’Neill, who is serving as acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also said in the social media post Tuesday that payments across the U.S. through the Administration for Children and Families, an agency within the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, will now require “justification and a receipt or photo evidence” before money is sent. They have also launched a fraud-reporting hotline and email address.

The Administration for Children and Families provides $185 million in child care funds annually to Minnesota, according to Assistant Secretary Alex Adams.

“That money should be helping 19,000 American children, including toddlers and infants," he said in a video posted on X. "Any dollar stolen by fraudsters is stolen from those children.”

Adams said he spoke Monday with the director of Minnesota's child care services office and she wasn't able to say "with confidence whether those allegations of fraud are isolated or whether there’s fraud stretching statewide.”

Trump has criticized Walz’s administration over the fraud cases, capitalizing on them to target the Somalia diaspora in the state, which has the largest Somali population in the U.S.

Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, has said an audit due by late January should give a better picture of the extent of the fraud. He said his administration is taking aggressive action to prevent additional fraud. He has long defended how his administration responded.

Minnesota’s most prominent Somali American, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, has urged people not to blame an entire community for the actions of a relative few.

FILE - Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing, June 12, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

FILE - State Sen. Michelle Benson reacts at a news conference on Wednesday, April 10, 2019 at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul to a report by the state's legislative auditor on combatting fraud in Minnesota's Child Care Assistance Program. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski,File)