Denis Maruk
- Thread starter Big Phil
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Hab-a-maniac
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Maruk was a small player at 5'8 (and his nickname was Pee Wee) and he peaked in his late 20s which explains why he fell off in the mid-80s. I believe his linemates were Mike Gartner and Bobby Carpenter, most notably.
mcphee
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I always tend to dismiss Maruk and players like him, sort of, well someone's got to be their best player,someone's going to score their goals. Who knows though, if the guy plays on the Island or Calgary during the heyday of the Edm./Flame 80's wars, we might have a much higher opinion.
Chili
En boca cerrada no entran moscas
- Jun 10, 2004
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Wild Thing
Child... please.
Big Phil said:
He got traded back to the North Stars. That threw cold water on more than one career back in the mid-80s.
Maruk was always one of my favorite players during that era. An explosive skater with a high top end, he was one of the fastest players in the league, and he had one of the quickest releases I've ever seen. He got his slap shot off faster than most players can snap off a wrister. You could hardly see the stick go back; all you saw was just a blur up behind the guy's head, and another blur going down toward the puck, and then a really tiny blur streaking toward the goalie. I called him "Death Ray Denny."
Steelhead16
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Growing up in the Bay Area I was a Seals fan when I was a kid and Denis Maruk was the first player that I ever followed the career of. He was the Seals first pick in 75' and they only played 2 years after that before they moved to Cleveland but I followed his career through Cleveland and Minnesota and Washington. He was just under a point a game guy for his career (887 pts in 888 games). He was a great scorer but I liked his 2 way play more than anything. That ultimately ended his career because as stated before he wasn't very big, but he played both ways. The last 3 years of his career he suffered torn knee ligaments a torn tendon in his foot and the final one was a shattered knee cap that he got in 87' blocking a shot. He couldn't come back from that one and retired in 88'. I think he has the numbers to warrant respect as a very good NHL player. Not a HOF guy but a great team player and a type of guy that the league was built on.
Wild Thing
Child... please.
Lard_Lad
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mazmin said:
I think he's kidding. Maruk was born in Toronto, doesn't look Inuit at all, and nativehockey.com doesn't have him on their list of native former NHLers.
Keetz
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I ran into this guy at a toy store in Burnsville Minnesota years and years ago. He was taken back when I recognized him. He had been retired for a couple of years and I guess wasn't used to being recognized in public and almost blushed. Nice guy. Awesome player.
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