I agree - even in real life, it appears the Bruins would do anything for each other, which makes them so endearing. One reason why I love hockey so much is that it seems to feature this charactaristic more than any other sport. Perhaps it's because they so often have to fight or retaliate for each other on the ice, I don't know. But hockey teams often seem to be extremely tight.

As for Vladimir, yeah, something about him just makes torturing him so irresitible, poor guy. And of course caring for him is a perfect role for Marc, as he's been a pretty selfish guy for most of his life, and Vladimir is jolting him out of that, big time. :-)