For a guy with three Stanley Cup rings, there is decidedly a chip on Maroon’s shoulder.
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Coach
Jim Montgomery’s permutations and alignments included newcomer
Pat Maroon sometimes working on the No. 1 unit. In the series opener, the 6-foot-3-inch, 235-pound winger was parked net front, working with
David Pastrnak,
Pavel Zacha,
Danton Heinen, and point man
Kevin Shattenkirk.
Now, remember, Maroon owns three Stanley Cup rings (one with St. Louis, a pair with Tampa Bay) and has played 780 regular-season games, so it shouldn’t be a revelation that he’s out there on the man-advantage. It’s certainly no surprise to Maroon.
“I’ve been on the power play since I stepped foot in this league,” the hulking winger said the other day, asked if he figured he’d be appointed a PP role when being dealt to the Bruins from the Wild at the March 8 trade deadline. “So I’m used to it.”
Long ago, in his early days with the Ducks, the now-36-year-old Maroon rolled out on the No. 1 unit, usually in the bumper (pass/shoot) role, working with
Ryan Getzlaf and
Corey Perry. Elite company for a kid who toiled five years in the AHL and was in his mid-20s when he finally got his crack at The Show.
In Edmonton, prior to winning the Cup for the first time with St. Louis (2019), Maroon was on the Oilers’ second power-play unit, camped at the net front, providing relief for
Milan Lucic. Had Lucic’s circumstances played out differently with the Bruins this season, it’s fair to assume that he’d occupy the net-front role now, and Maroon probably wouldn’t be wearing Black and Gold. Who knows, Maroon might be in a Leafs sweater right now. The margins in the game, like the play at the net, are narrow and forever changing.
“Be a good screen, be a bad goalie,” said Maroon, summing up his role around the blue paint. “Recover pucks on rebounds for second and third chances, when [the puck] comes to me, have good hands.”
For a guy with three Cup rings, there is decidedly a chip on Maroon’s shoulder. It’s as obvious as his game, straight ahead, no frills, no need for Freudian interpretation.
“I have good hands, right, that I think a lot of people don’t give me credit for,” noted Maroon. “I’ve done well in this league. Everyone just looks at me like I’m some plug, but, I just think I have good hands, good vision, when the puck comes to me I’ve got to act quick, make good decisions and be utilized that way.”
Rarely in today’s sports industry, hockey or otherwise, does anyone offer such a blunt review, be it of one’s own skills, or in this case what someone else thinks of those skills. Granted, there are worse, more demeaning things to be called than a “plug.”
Asked if being viewed as a plug angers him, Maroon said, “No, not really. I really don’t care. Personally, I just don’t give a [expletive].”
Is it a motivating force in his game?
“Yeah, I’ve been told that since I was 12 years old,” said Maroon, who needed two years in lower-rank junior hockey (NAHL) before making his way to OHL London. He spent a year with the Knights and finished as their top scorer.
Did others doubting him serve as motivation?
“Absolutely,” he said. “I don’t really care what people think of me. I’m in the same league as them, when there’s noise around you, and people have no faith in you, sometimes you just play better and you shove it up their [expletive]. But listen, I’ve been called so many things in my career, umm, it never really bothered me. You’ve just got to rise above it, be a bigger person, don’t really give a [expletive] what people think of you, what they say. Because at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. Just focus on yourself and what you can do.”
For the most part, he has filled a fourth-line role, keeping up impressively with speedsters
Jesper Boqvist and
Johnny Beecher. In Game 1, Maroon delivered the big hit that sent defenseman
Timothy Liljegren over the boards at the Bruins bench. That physical presence is Maroon’s greatest value to a team that had trouble mustering such gumption during the regular season. His handiwork around the net, power play or not, is the prize in the box of Cracker Jacks.
“That’s what he’s good at,” said Montgomery, when asked about the big hit on Liljegren. “You know, making subtle plays that build the team game — and what he’s really good at, what we’ve noticed is, a lot like
Nick Foligno, a lot of positive talk and a lot of reinforcement of the what the game plan is, he really grabs his linemates, both Beecher and Boqvist, positive reinforcement of what they’re going to do on the next shift, not what just happened.”
