For nearly 20 years, the Boston Bruins had a little ball of hate wearing number 63. While Brad Marchand may be gone, Beantown has a local born forward with a similar style on Chestnut Hill. Landan Resendes is entering his sophomore season at Boston College. He told me from childhood, Marchand was who he modeled his game after but recently added an injection of another forward.

"It was always Brad Marchand," Resendes declared. It still is. But over the past couple years, I've been watching Travis Konecny. Obviously he scores a lot of goals, so I can get better in that aspect, but I think there are other aspects of his games I can compare to."

Prior to college, Resendes spent time three years with the USHL's Cedar Rapids RoughRiders before being dealt to the Youngstown Phantoms at the start of his age out campaign. It was that season where I saw him on both squads from the broadcast booth. 

Resendes was an offensive wrecking ball. His solid shot and determined drive to the net made opponents have to respect both options. This versatility opened up opportunities for both Resendes and his teammates. During his final USHL season, Resendes earned 35 points (16 goals + 19 assists) in 61 games a tie for a Phantom second 94 penalty minutes.

When asked about why he chose Boston College, Resendes harkened back to his days at the prestigious Cushing Academy and the importance of family.

"I would say just being close to home, it's always been a spot that I wanted to go to since I was younger," Resendes said. "I think just the schooling aspect, I was a prep school guy, so it kind of feels like the campus kind of feels like that. So I would say a lot of comparisons to my prep school days and being close to home. Obviously, it is just a dream to play here.

While primarily on the fourth line during his freshman year, Resendes' tenacity for hockey should open doors for him in the top six going forward.

Perhaps the best characterization of Resendes came from EliteProspects who used two impactful words: Maniacal Competitor.