By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

Franklin’s Logan Marchand watched as his father got his older brother, Dylan, into skates and onto the ice to play hockey. It was here that the youngster decided that he too wanted to lace up the skates and get onto the ice.

“I saw my brother playing hockey, and I wanted to be just like him, so around four I started to play the sport too,” Marchand said. “It’s not that I wanted to be like him, I wanted to compete against him. That’s a big thing in our household – competition between one another.”

Growing up Marchand found himself primarily playing forward, but right before he entered high school he transitioned to defense.

“I used to play goalie as well, so I figured that protecting the net would be a good place for me to play,” he said. “As a defensemen I could also use my size and physicality on the ice; I like to throw my body around. Besides, I don’t have the hands to be a scorer.”

While Marchand may not think of himself as an offensive threat, his coach believes he has the knack to put the puck in the net on a regular basis.

“He’s an offensive defenseman, who likes to jump into the play and has the ability to score some goals and make things happen,” Franklin Coach Chris Spillane said. “He loves to play physical hockey and is one of our big hitters. He’s got that offensive ability while also bringing a bit of nastiness to the ice.”

Spillane continues that the defenseman is also a good skater with size, has vision and can move the puck well.

“As the Coach, I sometimes like to rein him in about jumping into the offense, but when he does good things usually happen,” the coach said. “Last year he recorded 6 goals and 8 assists, and I will be expecting a lot more this year. I’ve been watching him play this fall team, and he’s been averaging 1 or 2 goals a game and I’m hoping that it carries over.”

Regarding his physicality on the ice, Marchand knows that he has to be careful as to not get into too much trouble.

“You can only hit so hard in high school hockey. I’ve gotten called a couple of times for hitting too hard. I’m still going to hit hard, but I try to keep my hands down and use my shoulder, he said. “Coach Spillane likes my physical play on the ice, he just doesn’t like me sitting in the box as much. When I get in trouble for my hitting, its usually my dad (forwards coach on the high school team) who gives it to me after the game.”

Entering the season, Marchand will do so once again as one of the team’s captains. As a second-year captain, something that Spillane usually doesn’t do, he believed that Marchand displayed the penchant to lead as a sophomore and was well respected by his teammates, so he was more than willing to give him the C as a junior.

“As a captain, I am hoping that I can go out and lead this team, giving them the confidence to get ready to go out and have a good season,” Marchand said. “Since I’ve been playing for Franklin, we’ve made the State Tournament, but haven’t been able to get out of the second round. I would love to change that this year.”

Two years ago, Franklin was the 19th seed and defeated Wellesley in the first round but fell to Hingham in the second round. Last year, being the 12 seed, the Panthers crushed Andover in the first round but then again fell in the second round to Marshfield.

Following high school, Marchand is planning on attending Merrimack College In Andover where his brother Dylan is currently studying.

“I’m hoping that I can play club hockey there with my brother,” he said. “I really didn’t get a chance to play with him as much at Franklin, so I am really hoping I can do it there.”

This past year, Marchand decided to join the Walpole Express, a club hockey team that for the first time in their history advanced to the National Tournament in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.