Maroon Brings Stanley Cup Pedigree to Wild

Heading into the third weekend of the current National Football League season, newest Minnesota Wild Pat Maroon came clean that he and his partner, veteran Wild forward Marcus Foligno, were winless in the team’s fantasy football league.

The Big Moose Rig had been close but no cigar through the first couple of weeks.

“Honestly, I haven’t even looked at our squad,” Maroon admitted. “He sent me a couple of pictures. He’s the general manager, I’m the coach I guess.”

Seems like a small thing, no? Inviting a new teammate to be in your fantasy football league. Or making sure he’s in on lunch or dinner plans. But from such simplicity grows something formidable, something like a team.

Important? To Maroon it is.

“Absolutely. They’ve done a good job of trying to help me out. Take me out to lunch, dinners, for a beer,” the 35-year-old said. “Obviously fantasy football. It’s things like that that go a long way. Obviously coming to a new team’s always a hard transition but I try to make it as easy as possible for myself. For these guys they’ve been here for so long that they feel comfortable right out of the gate so I think that’s the most important thing. I think it’s a huge thing.”

It's quite likely – pending how things work out for forward Jujhar Khaira who is on a two-way contract and with the Wild having little salary cap wiggle room – that Maroon will be the only new veteran face on the opening night roster.

His presence, though, is as imposing as Maroon is physically.

In some ways the big winger is a hockey unicorn.

Selected 161^st overall by Philadelphia in the 2007 draft, Maroon took some time to find his groove as an NHLer.

But he was part of an Anaheim team that went to the 2015 Western Conference Final losing to eventual Cup champion Chicago in seven games.

That’s where I first met Maroon. I wrote about his relationship to a young boy with cancer, Niko Greco. Maroon was humble and eloquent talking about why the relationship was so meaningful to him. Those kinds of moments, Maroon’s largesse away from the rink, have followed him throughout his career.

A native of the St. Louis area, Maroon went home to play with the Blues in 2018-19 and in June of that year was on the ice holding the Stanley Cup, the first time in St. Louis franchise history. He would repeat the ritual the next two years in Tampa.

Three years. Three Stanley Cups. Two teams. Magical.

“It’s obviously unique playing for two really good hockey teams. Good opportunity to win,” Maroon said.

 “Your end goal is before you retire to win a Stanley Cup. I think that’s everyone’s goal and some people go years without making the playoffs. Some people go years without even making it past the first round or to the Stanley Cup final,” he added. “So, some people don’t know what it’s like to go that far. Hopefully I can be someone that can help find a way to get these guys (there) and if they need anything, obviously I’m here for a conversation. Our end goal this year is to hoist the Stanley Cup and that should be your goal the whole time this year we have an opportunity here. We have a good group of guys and like you said before it’s a core group that’s been here for a long time so they know each other it’s about getting over the hump now.”

Long-time NHL netminder and highly regarded broadcast analyst Darren Pang got a front-row seat to Maroon’s impact in St. Louis during the 2018-19 season. The two still belong to the same St. Louis-area golf club.

“Number one, he’s a real good character person,” Pang said in a recent interview.

That’s a term that gets thrown around a lot in sports but there are few guys who can galvanize a room and bring a group together like Maroon.

“It’s no coincidence that everywhere he’s gone, he’s brought people together,” Pang added. “People want to be around Big Patty. You’re getting his pure, authentic self every step of the way.”

Part of it may be that people have doubted Maroon along the way.

The Wild are his seventh NHL team.

“As he’s gone along he’s done a great job of showing a little humility but also showing the world ‘I’m out to prove everybody wrong’ every step of the way,” Pang said.

Pang believes Maroon, 35, has lots left to give and he especially likes the early line combination with Maroon skating alongside Connor Dewar and Brandon Duhaime.

“Those players are going to grow. I’ve seen everybody who plays with Patty, they grow as players,” Pang said.

And the team, Pang believes without reservation that Maroon’s presence on a team that is searching for the components that will lead to playoff success is important.

“He went three years without losing a playoff series. Think about that,” Pang said. “I think he’s in a really great spot.”

Did Maroon know before he won his first Cup what it would take to win or did he think he knew?

“I think the teams in Anaheim, I thought we should have won to be honest with you,” Maroon said. “You learn from veteran players like Getzy (Ryan Getzlaf), (Corey) Perry, Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu, Francois Beauchemin, Bryan Allen. These guys that had been in the league for so long and guys that won before and you don’t realize how hard it is until you keep going to each round. That was kind of devastating (losing in the conference final) but you know when you go that far you kind of know what it takes and you can add the experience. You may be bringing that experience to different teams with players that have never been to the playoffs or past the first round. So you can really help them out.”

It is the ultimate playoff cliché and yet is wholly accurate, that winning in the playoffs and specifically winning a Stanley Cup is having a lot of things go your way all at the same time.

“It’s a game of inches when it comes down to April, May and June. Are you going to make the smart play? Are you going to try and risk a play? Are you going to defend? Are you going to get the puck out? It’s things like that that you learn moving forward that’s why some teams have experience and go farther than others,” Maroon said.

Wild GM Bill Guerin knows a thing or two about Stanley Cup bona fides.

He won a Cup early in his career in New Jersey and then near the end of his career he was acquired by a star-laden Pittsburgh Penguins team in 2009. Guerin was a critical factor on and off the ice as the Penguins won the first of what would be three Stanley Cups in less than a decade.

Guerin won two more as an executive with the Pens in 2016 and 2017.

Maroon fits exactly what Guerin was looking for as he continues to mold and shape this Wild roster.

“I think it’s super important,” Guerin said of Maroon’s experience. “Pedigree.”

“His experience is like nobody’s had in this room. He’s seen things that nobody’s seen in our room,” Guerin said. “And that’s important for him to share those things and to know when to, I always say just pull guys into the battle. And I think he’s excellent at that. And Pat’s a good player still. He can make plays. He’s got good hands. He’s a big body. He’s not just a locker room guy. He is a player. I expect a lot from him.”

Head Coach Dean Evason believes he can already feel and see Maroon’s impact on the team.

“Huge difference. Huge. That’s why Billy and the guys went out and tried to get people with that pedigree that have won, that can pass down their experiences and relate what they’ve been through so that hopefully we all learn from that,” Evason said. “Not only players, coaches and managers as well. His presence is already felt with our group. You can see that. You can see it in the dressing room. So, yeah, we’re looking forward to him bringing that leadership quality to our hockey club.”

Funny how the circle of time rolls. Maroon watched and learned from those veterans in Anaheim and seemingly in the blink of an eye, now he is that player.

“I guess I’m an experienced guy now that I’ve won before. I’m here if people just want to have a conversation, right?” Maroon said. “I’m here to help this team. If it’s not on the scoresheet you know in the locker room. Protect my teammates, making our team feel safe but obviously I want to produce, help our team win, score some goals and produce.”

“At the end of the day it’s all about the team and how the team plays. It’s 23 guys collectively. Are we all going to buy in at the same time? Are we willing to buy in? Are we willing to do it? And it starts now.”