Confirmed with Link: Maple Leafs re-sign Martin Marincin to 1-year, $700k contract

[DopeyFish]

Good response. Hell, I'm in my 40's and I keep improving at my beer league every year. Well, at least, I think I am. LOL. Confidence is huge.

A lot of it is just in repetition.

Comfort leads to confidence (or over confidence )

Some people are built different than others where every mistake eats them alive, some who just ignore mistakes and focus on the positives, etc. Psychology is an important component of sports that is often overlooked especially by fans. In the case of marincin, he isn't going to get a new bag of tricks as he's not going to be a 50+ point superstar... so he doesn't have that going for him. Fans won't care that he may stop more entries than a goalie stops pucks so long as he lets one chance for the other team to score and they do. I think it's still worth trying to make an NHL player out of him because nobody on the team does what he can.

 

[kb]

The problem is he outplayed liljegren... as did schultz.

People keep seeing players as a static thing. They're constantly evolving. We've all known marincin has the tools to be an elite shutdown d-man basically in the vein of Gunnarsson. But what he has problems with is confidence. He's shown shades of that dominance in the AHL and a lot of those numbers have translated to the NHL. The issue is he keeps beating himself up when he does make a mistake and then it leads to more.

I'd rather we try to make a good player out of him than constantly pushing him down. If he has finally figured it all out, I'd rather have him than most players because of how valuable those types of d-men are.

I've just been fooled before by his play. As you say, not static. He looks good and tails off. It's his pattern. Fool me twice.....

And the fact that he outplayed who we have here is exactly the issue I had stated originally. If he's #6, IMO there needs to be an upgrade. He denies zone entries with the best of them, but when there is a zone entry.....yikes.

 

[DarkKnight]

I'm not really sure how you can consider the acquisitions of both Muzzin and Barrie as bandaids...

I mentioned the three guys I was referring too and you’ll note none are the names you’ve mentioned. Your quibble is irrelevant.

 

[deletethis]

Speaking of that.

What Gardiner failed to mention: the photo person was a 4 year old. j/k

 

[lifelonghockeyfan]

What Gardiner failed to mention: the photo person was a 4 year old. j/k

I thought the person with the mascot was Doug Hamilton. Rumour is Hamilton keeps his distant from teammates. Maybe he didn't recognize Gardiner.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Short-handed Leafs defence makes a little room for the Specialist | The Star

When he coached the Maple Leafs’ defence, D.J. Smith had a nickname for Martin Marincin: the Specialist.

Marincin, in fact, has a variety of nicknames. His teammates call him Marv. But the Specialist is apropos, especially with injuries mounting these days.

“It was because I was good on the penalty kill,” says Marincin. “That’s why he called me the Specialist.”

Basically, Marincin plays when needed. With Jake Muzzin out week-to-week with a broken foot, the Leafs need Marincin now.

“That’s hockey,” says Marincin. “Injuries in hockey are normal. So I get a chance, and I’ll try to play good. We’ll see.”

Marincin hasn’t looked out of place the last two games in place of Muzzin, and should be back in the lineup Thursday in Winnipeg. He plays mostly with Justin Holl, Marincin’s partner in the AHL when the Marlies won the Calder Cup.

“When he’s confident and feeling good, he’s a good player,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said of Marincin. “I’ve seen them play very well. He and Holl, in my time in the American league, that was the dominant pairing, the big reason why we were able to win a Calder Cup."

“We’ve seen a lot of progression here from Holl, obviously. Of course, Marincin has got a bigger sample in the NHL and hasn’t quite found his way, but this is a good opportunity for him.”