Brad Marchand teams up with local Dairy Queen for an incredible initiative

The secret to the Florida Panthers' Stanley Cup championship in June?

Ice cream.

Specifically, soft-serve Blizzard ice cream from Dairy Queen.

Star forward Brad Marchand started a bit of a team tradition where the team would hit up a local Dairy Queen for a round of Blizzards before important games. Photos began popping up on social media of Panthers players eating Blizzards together in Raleigh, N.C., and Edmonton prior to round three and four meetings with the Hurricanes and Oilers.

The superstition kicked into overdrive after the Panthers went on to repeat as Stanley Cup champions and that's when the fast-food chain jumped on the bandwagon. Dairy Queen recruited Marchand as a spokesperson and even renamed their classic Cookie Dough Blizzard to the "Brad Blizzard" for a Stanely Cup celebration in Florida.

Today, Marchand was back home in his native Halifax, Nova Scotia where he teamed up with the local DQ to raise money for Halifax’s IWK Health Centre as part of the Children’s Miracle Network.

Marchand was at the Bayer's Lake DQ for hours today, meeting with fans, signing autographs and, of course, knocking back some frozen desserts.

“As a dad, supporting children’s health, especially through Canadian children’s hospitals, is something I care deeply about,” Marchand said in a news release. “Buying a Blizzard Treat may seem like a small thing but on Miracle Treat Day it’s part of something so much bigger.”

Atta' boy, Marchy! That's using your fame and influence to make positive change!