Beantown surprise: Nova Scotia hockey fan gets invite to meet Brad Marchand

A young Boston Bruins fan was shocked to receive a new jersey and tickets to see his favourite player Brad Marchand play on the ice in Beantown for Christmas.

Seth Ritchie's mother captured the nine-year-old opening the gifts on camera and the shock and surprise made for an emotional video, which was shared on social media.

The Bruins feisty forward, who hails from Nova Scotia, watched the video and sent the young hockey fan back a video of his own.

Marchand offered Ritchie and his family a pass to meet up with him after the game and for Ritchie, it's become a bit of a Christmas miracle.

"Wow," is all Ritchie could say when he saw the video.

He was in shock and at first, he couldn't believe it was real.

"I'm going to give him a hug when I get there and tell him how much I like him," said Ritchie. "It's just going to be amazing."

In the video, Marchand held up a Bruins T-shirt he signed for Ritchie and thanked him for his support.

"I want to leave a pass for you and your family to come down and say 'Hi,' after the game so I can meet you," said Marchand in the video.

The entire family was shocked by the generosity of the Bruins forward who has a reputation on the ice as a hard-nosed agitator who doesn't mind mixing it up physically, but also brings a scoring touch.

"For him to respond in that manner was just incredible," said Peterson. "We never expected or would ever expect anything like that."

Peterson has been a lifelong Bruins fan and so are her parents who bought their grandson the Marchand jersey and will be joining them on the Boston road trip.

Peterson jokes her son had no choice but to cheer for the Bruins.

"Yeah, he was born with a Boston Bruins soother in his mouth," said Peterson.

Seth Ritchie’s sister holds him with a Bruins soother in his mouth. (Courtesy: Jillian Peterson)

Marchand, who grew up in Hammonds Plains, N.S., and spends a lot of his summers back home in the Halifax region, for proximity sake, he's Ritchie's favourite player but it's also his never-say-die spirit.

"I look up to him a lot and I just feel like he never gives up," said Ritchie. "Whenever he gets body checked or something and he's on the ground, he always gets up."

Ritchie had to pick himself up off the floor after opening up his Bruins jersey and game tickets on Christmas morning.

"I was just so grateful that I got tickets to see the Boston (Bruins) play," said Ritchie.

Peterson says it's turning into a trip of a lifetime for the entire family. Her parents have never been to a Bruins game either.

"I've been to a game but my parents who have been Bruins fans their entire life and have never seen a live Bruins game," said Peterson.

Ritchie says he'll look to get his new Marchand jersey autographed, an event that's sure to feel like Christmas all over again.