COMMENTARY

Halifax sits more than 650 miles away from Boston. 

But it didn’t take very long for Bruins fans to accept a 5-foot-9 winger out of Nova Scotia as one of their own. 

From his first shifts on the TD Garden ice as a member of the cantankerous Merlot line, Brad Marchand was about as subtle as a gloved jab to Daniel Sedin’s jaw. 

Marchand’s reputation as an on-ice antagonist — just as happy to shred a player’s mental fortitude via verbal barbs as he was snapping pucks into twine — made him a divisive figure across the league. 

Or better put: a reviled heel just about anywhere outside of Boston. 

Marchand — and a Bruins fandom that has long placed a premium on will, drive, and an affinity for trash-talk  — wouldn’t have had it any other way. 

“I have done things that have stepped over that line, and I’ve paid the price for it,” Marchand, who’s racked up …