The Sheet Blog: An ode to Pat Maroon
Pat Maroon has always been one of those players who’s been as easy to cheer for as he is miserable to play against.
Maroon, one of the great personalities in the game, told Darren Pang Saturday during the Chicago Blackhawks/St. Louis Blues game that he’ll be hanging up the skates at the end of this season.
While I’m happy for him and his family as they start a new chapter of their lives, the game will be poorer for his absence. On the ice, he gave everything. Teammates loved him, fans loved him, and think about it—when have you ever seen a boring interview with Pat Maroon? He always spoke from the heart and tried to share exactly how he was feeling.
I think about the year his Blues won the Cup in 2019 how everything with that team went off the road and into the ditch early in the season. Everybody was getting fired, traded, or waived to the AHL, including Maroon. Before manager Doug Armstrong had a change of heart, Maroon was getting sent down, and I always wondered if he would ever come back to the NHL if he got shipped. Sometimes, guys like him don’t. Hockey is so much about circumstance and opportunity, and Maroon went from almost being out of the game to winning three Stanley Cups.
I first saw Maroon play in the OHL with the London Knights, and I assure you he was not the player you saw in the NHL. In London, he was a dynamic scorer. Incredible hands around the net, undoubtedly enhanced by playing roller hockey in St. Louis for so many years. During his one season in the OHL, he led the Knights with 90 points. But that game wasn’t going to translate in the NHL and Maroon changed. He did what he had to do to stay in hockey and not become a ‘whatever happened to’ guy. Big, physical, fearless, with enough skill to play anywhere in the lineup.
Maroon adapted; he changed to make a professional career for himself.
I hope he joins the dark side here in hockey media where, bluntly, I hope he doesn’t change a thing. He’d be perfect on everything from panels to podcasts. And if you want to see what I’m talking about, watch any of his weekly chats with Jonny Lazarus and Colby Cohen on Morning Cuppa’ Hockey. I think it’s one of the best things we have on our network.
Hurricanes, Taylor Hall working toward extension
Taylor Hall has been excellent for the Carolina Hurricanes, putting up nine points in his last eight games. Early on, when he first joined the Canes and the production wasn’t there, the underlying numbers were pointing towards a breakout with the team. And here we are. This is a good fit, and it should come as no surprise that two sides are working towards an extension.
Adjusting the instigator
So, here’s an idea I talked about with Jason Gregor on his show along with Laz + Colby on Morning Cuppa Hockey last week – what if we reversed the penalties for fighting and the instigator? Offsetting minors for the two players who choose to engage in fisticuffs, but if there’s an instigator involved, that player’s team has to kill off a five-minute major.
If you want to eliminate the automatic fight after a big, clean hit, this is one way to do it. Referees I spoke with about this idea find it abhorrent, but just about everybody else at least wonders about the idea and its cascading consequences. Would it encourage more fighting? Probably, but only consensual fights since it’s far too costly to jump somebody to engage.
And while we’re at it, the other rule change I’ve been on about this season involves neutral zone faceoffs. Outside of the start of a period and after a goal, I don’t see much, if any, value in dropping the puck in between the blue lines. As hockey continues to search out new ways to increase scoring, ask yourself, “why are we dropping pucks that far away from the net?” Keep the pucks around the goaltender if you want to help juice offense. Does your team go offside? The puck comes back into your zone for a draw, and the puck stays hot.
Some love for DiPietro
Great to see netminder Michael DiPietro killing it in the American Hockey League for the Providence Bruins. DiPietro leads all AHL goalies with a .929 save percentage and a won/lost record of 23-8-6. Those are some impressive numbers for the 2017 Memorial Cup winner. With a number of teams looking for help between the pipes in the NHL, many wonder if the third-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks could be the answer to some teams goalie woes. Dipietro is a Group 6 free agent, and although the talks between his camp and the Bruins are ongoing if both sides can’t reach a deal and he gets to market, there will be interest from several teams.
Gardiner MacDougall a fit for Hockey Canada?
Hockey Canada has yet to finish their hiring process for the VP of Hockey Operations and GM of the Program of Excellence positions before they get around to naming a new coach for the World Junior team, I would have to imagine Moncton head coach Gardiner MacDougall would have to be considered around the top of their list.
For those who don’t know him, MacDougall is one of the winningest coaches in U Sports hockey history with the UNB Reds. He won the Memorial Cup with Saint John, picked up gold at the U-18 World Championship last year, and has had the Wildcats in the mix for the top team in the CHL all season. He could win both the QMJHL’s Gilles-Courteau Trophy and the Memorial Cup. In the process, he has the team in some elite territory in Q history as well. The Wildcats rank fourth in lowest goals against in league history and eighth in points percentage. Everywhere he goes, he wins.
Latest on PWHL expansion
All the whispers recently have surrounded when and where the league will expand, with a lot of people much smarter than me (which is a big field) suspecting the league heads west to two new markets. Vancouver and Seattle seem to be the two consensus favorites, with Denver and Edmonton appearing to be targets that make sense, perhaps down the road.
Someone close to the situation also told me to pay attention to the final leg of the Takeover Tour and the Ottawa/Boston game in St Louis at the end of the month. If they pop a big number in that one there will be some momentum to bring the league to Missouri, a state where women’s sports do very well. Detroit is also a market to keep an eye on.
The WHL expands
Quite the newsworthy weekend for the Western Hockey League with a few major announcements starting with expansion. It had been whispered for months, but on Monday, it became official: the league will welcome the Penticton Vees into the fold next season and start the process for Chilliwack in 2026-27.
Also, there was a great announcement last week that sees the Western Hockey League partnering with Victory + to stream all regular season and playoff games for free starting this postseason and without geo-restrictions. Landon Dupont for all!
I’ll have WHL Commissioner Dan Near on The Sheet Monday afternoon to discuss all this.
Rink Fries – I don’t know if the Montreal Canadiens can make it in at the end of all this, but man is it ever great to watch this historic team play big, meaningful games this deep in the season. Even though it was a loss for the Habs, how great was that game against Colorado on Saturday night? I love the idea of the New York Rangers raising a banner for Sam Rosen. A beautiful ceremony for the legendary broadcaster this weekend…just curious – what’s the total every season for sticks broken across goalposts after a goal is scored against your net? I always wondered how many sticks would be saved if they paid for the ones they deliberately broke or gave away to fans? I always laugh when I hear how generous players are who hand sticks to the adoring public. That ain’t coming out of their pocket, folks…congrats to Bridgeport’s Chris Terry, who became the 12th player in AHL history to notch 800pts. Terry leapfrogged Bruce Boudreau, who finished his AHL career with 799 points.
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