Stanley Cup Finals 2022 – Pat Maroon is Tampa Bay Lightning’s classy clown, motivational speaker and family man

Tampa, Fla. – Pat Maroon just doing his job.

In Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finalsthe Tampa Bay Lightning The winger passes the ball to his teammate Nikita Kucherov. His job is to go straight to Colorado Avalanche net and get behind their defense. Once he did, he yelled “yeah, yeah!” for Kucherov, who beat him with a pass that Maroon scored which helped Lightning score the fifth goal of their 6-2 match.

After Maroon’s grinning celebration, the 34-year-old touched Kucherov’s glove, 26, and said: “Good play… kid.”

A few days before that, Maroon had another job. It doesn’t light up the scoreboard. It lightened the mood.

It was the day before Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Lightning is rolling across the ice in Denver, trailing 1-0 in their series against Avalanche. It was Kucherov’s birthday, and Maroon, the team’s jovial but veteran winger, managed to sing a chorus of “Happy Birthday To You” to his star teammate.

The song starts off a hit, so Maroon moves on to his next stress-breaker: playfully slashing his teammates during their morning skating session.

“Obviously getting out of a losing battle it’s important to turn the page upside down”, Defenseman Victor Hedman speak. “I think that’s what made us successful in the past is putting everything behind our back. Pat is very good in these situations. He’s been through the season and all the years he’s been here. .”

It was the third season of Maroon in Tampa. He won the Stanley Cup in his first two. The Lightning was looking for a triple peat, but Maroon hit the mark, winning the Stanley Cup in 2019. St. Louis Bluesalso.

“I’m very lucky and very lucky to be a part of this match. I take this match very seriously,” Maroon said. “It never gets old for me. You love sacrifice. You love the happiness in the room after a big win.”

If there is happiness in the room, Maroon is often the source for it.

“He’s got a lot of personality,” said coach Jon Cooper. “He’s in a room that doesn’t have a lot of noise, he’s creating an atmosphere in that room. This is essential in our team. We have a lot of character in our room. himself but not too many characters. And he is the personality.”

From his attention-grabbing gaming day clothes to his cruel and humorous on-ice insults – he used to scoff Josh Anderson afterward Montreal Canada for having the same score as Maroon, “it’s a shame” – Maroon is “one of a kind”, according to Defenseman Ryan McDonagh.

“He’s a pretty unique individual,” McDonagh said. “We used to play him. We’ve heard a lot about his personality and what kind of person he is in the dressing room. But I think he’s kind of a weirdo.”

McDonagh and Maroon share an agent. When Maroon was a free agent and was looking for a team to sign, he and McDonagh played a few rounds of golf together in Minnesota.

What’s it like to play golf with Pat Maroon?

“He just likes to have a lot of fun out there,” McDonagh said with a laugh. “Sometimes it’s not about the shot he hits. It’s about all the other activities.”

Whether it’s golf or not, Maroon signed with Lightning in August 2019. This is his fifth NHL stop. He started his career with Anaheim Ducks in five seasons, then with Edmonton Oilers for parts of three before going to New Jersey Devil into the 2018 trade deadline. His lone season with the Blues resulted in his first Stanley Cup championship – a trip to remember for the St. Louis.

He joined the Lightning at one of their lowest points of Cooper’s time with the team – after first loss arrive Columbus blue jacket that overshadowed one of the best regular seasons in NHL history. Anxiety in the whole team is rising. The pressure of unfulfilled expectations is crushing.

They need a stress-busting tool.

They need Pat Maroon.

“When he came in, it was important to us that he brought a bit of life to the room but also a genealogy of victory and what it takes to win,” Cooper said. “[Kevin] Shatenkirk very similar in the same mold – people that bring a different perspective, some lives, but also have to see how we play and what we can do to get us to the top. That’s what Patty delivers. He’s a pretty character, that kid. “

McDonagh said he could feel the difference as soon as Tampa Bay signed with Maroon. “It’s his ability to keep the room loose sometimes serious and regain focus. It’s a unique trait. Not many guys can do that and seem self-confident. course,” McDonagh said.

This is the secret to Pat Maroon’s success and his status as one of the key pieces to Lightning’s championship puzzle. One minute, he cut across the dressing room with a raspy joke. Next, he’s saying something that’s on their mind at a crucial moment.

“He seems like just what we need on the ice and also off the ice,” the winger Alex Killorn speak. “He’s a leader. A guy who’s been around for a while. An effective player, not only in his role but also helping other players.

“During the season, there are times when you have to breathe and relax, enjoy yourself, just so you don’t burn out. And then there are times when you need to say something and things have to tighten up even more. You guys, especially Pat, understand that dichotomy.”

In front of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare knew Maroon as a rival before he went to Tampa last summer. He heard his chirping on the ice. He was not aware of his words in the dressing room.

“When I got here, I realized it was weird. With all of his shouting and everything, you’d think he was a clown,” Bellemare said. “But at the end of the day, when it comes to hockey, he usually doesn’t just like. When he talks in the dressing room, he understands very well what needs to be said and what the boys need to hear. I think that’s it. is one of his greatest values ​​that people don’t know about.

Bellemare has played with “inflatable” players before: those who bring energy or humour.

“This isn’t that kind of exaggeration. It’s about saying the right thing at the right time to make sure the whole group doesn’t get into bad habits. Or add terrible momentum. That’s what he doesn’t get recognized for. enough for,” he said of Maroon. “You are not going to win [in a row] just because you’re on really good teams. You have to add something to them. “

What Maroon hopes he adds to Lightning is the veteran presence he appreciated as a young player. A cheerful, motivating and, perhaps more than anything, welcoming person.

Nick Paul is 27 years old. He spent seven seasons with Senator of Ottawa before being traded to Lightning at the deadline. He has never entered another NHL dressing room. He said Maroon immediately made the transition smoother.

“He was amazing. Off the ice especially. He was one of the first people to invite me out to dinner, making me feel welcome,” Paul said. “He’s a leader in the room. When something has to be said, he’s never shy to step up and say the hard things. Or say funny things. He’s a big voice in the crowd. room.”

Paul himself is a charismatic player. “I won’t say silly, but I’m definitely a guy who keeps it light,” he said.

So Paul saw Maroon as a role model for what to say and when to say it. “Can switch the switch when you need to. When the game starts, the jokes are over. It’s serious. It’s all we can do to win,” Paul said.

On ice, Maroon does all he can to help Lightning, including acting as their de facto enforcer when needed. That only adds to his authenticity in the dressing room.

“The biggest key for him is that he cares about his teammates and he’s willing to do anything to help them,” McDonagh said. “It helps. Especially when he has to be strict. In our hearts we know he loves everyone in that dressing room very much.”

Pat Maroon could be the class clown. He can be a motivational speaker. Ask Maroon, and you’ll know he might as well be Dominic Toretto in “The Fast and the Furious”: It’s All About Family.

“It’s about building a family vibe,” says Maroon. “To know that if you text a guy, they’ll come to your house in two minutes.”

That was something he had learned from his Anaheim days.

“I’m a firm believer in building a chemical reaction from the rink. When you get to the rink, you feel so much better. Especially when you’re a young man,” he said. “I remember going to the rink in Anaheim and what a meaningful ‘good morning’ I was with Ryan Getzlaf or Corey Perry or Teemu Selanne, the people you are looking for. If they say good morning to you, your day will be so much better. “

Maroon’s arrival in Tampa led to better days for Lightning. He went on to add his unique gifts to this drive of a peat trio, including a goal in Game 3 – a game that brought new life to Lightning in the Finals Stanley Cup Final.

“I think how strong our team is. Not giving up. We could have folded in game 6 against Toronto and said, ‘It was a great game.” Instead, we get that old swagger back,” he said.

“There’s a window that will close soon. Get out there and make history.”