Today’s News Clips Nov. 21, 2019

Chicago Tribune Column: Resurgent Blackhawks are a more serious playoff contender with 18- year-old Kirby Dach

David Haugh Nov. 20, 2019

Fourth-line centers routinely do hockey’s dirty work, so Kirby Dach willingly accepts whatever chores come with living in Blackhawks teammate Brent Seabrook’s basement.

“Usually loading the dishwasher and laundry,’’ Dach said with a laugh.

He is 18 going on 40, oozing maturity that makes Dach an ideal fit on a Hawks team led by Jonathan “ Serious” Toews.

Dach still misses his parents and younger brother and sister back home in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, but finds comfort living among the happy chaos in the Seabrook household with three kids under 6 and the family’s three dogs. “It’s like the way I grew up,’’ he said. He loves everything about his bustling new city except its traffic, which he seldom encountered in a rural Canadian community with a population of 26,492.

On Wednesday, Dach will celebrate the one-month anniversary of his NHL debut, forever etched in his memory after lining up across from Capitals legends Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

“That was surreal,’’ Dach said.

Just as jaw-dropping has been Dach’s instant impact. Entering Tuesday’s game against the Hurricanes, Dach had scored five goals and totaled nine points in 14 games averaging just 11:13 minutes on the ice. The kid belongs. Only three other 18-year-olds besides Dach ever have enjoyed a point streak of four or more games. And only Devils forward Jack Hughes, the No. 1 pick of last June’s NHL draft, has scored more points among rookies than the player the Hawks selected two spots later.

A preseason concussion delayed Dach but hardly knocked the 6-foot-4, 197-pounder off the developmental fast track.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity, but I always expected to be able to contribute right away,’’ Dach said.

As confident as Dach was, the Hawks needed more time to devise their best strategy. They had nine games to decide whether to keep Dach on the roster all season or reassign him to the in the WHL and preserve a year of service. Before Dach’s sixth game against the Predators in Nashville, Hawks general manager Stan Bowman and coach Jeremy Colliton invited the teenager to lunch at the team hotel to break the good news.

“We had a great conversation and they just told me they believed in me,’’ Dach said.

It’s easy to see why. Dach slid seamlessly onto the fourth line between unselfish veterans Ryan Carpenter and Zach Smith, who played in his first NHL game when Dach was 7. Dach skillfully handles the puck, showing savvy and stickhandling ability that complement his rangy size. An innate hockey sense helps Dach anticipate situations like a veteran and a willingness to get physical makes you wonder how dangerous he can become once he adds 15 or 20 pounds of muscle.

Around the NHL, analysts have compared Dach to eight-time All-Star , but he prefers to pattern his game after Predators center Ryan Johansen, who also debuted as a teenager. Around Chicago, the city’s youngest budding sports star is 11 months younger than Bulls rookie Coby White and three years younger than 22-year-olds Roquan Smith of the Bears, Eloy Jimenez of the White Sox and Nico Hoerner of the Cubs. Does Dach have the brightest future of the bunch? What a good debate.

“He’s a tremendous talent,’’ Colliton told reporters. “We’ve got a lot of fun times ahead of us watching him develop, and he’s going to be a big-time player for us. He’s helping us win.’’

Indeed, Dach’s ascent has coincided with the Hawks’ resurgence. A 4-7-3 start cried for change and Colliton responded — suggesting Dach wasn’t the only guy in the Hawks dressing room showing signs of growth. Colliton shook up the lines at the beginning of this month — reuniting with Andrew DeBrincat and Dylan Strome on the second line that carried the Hawks at times in Colliton’s first season.

Perhaps a more impactful move, however, involved Colliton tweaking his system to generate more pace and scoring. Instead of dumping and chasing to reduce neutral-zone turnovers, the Hawks returned to the style that worked well last season when Colliton allowed forwards to carry the puck into the offensive zone and transition out of their end. That philosophical shift in-season opened up more avenues for creativity and broke Kane out of his scoring slump — he entered Tuesday on a six-game streak. Freer to make plays, the Hawks offense finally produced enough to ease the burden on a struggling defense and stand-on-your-head goalies Robin Lehner and Corey Crawford.

“All of a sudden, it seems like we have more options coming out of our end, we have more motion, more speed, which is always a good thing,’’ Kane told Blackhawks.com.

All of a sudden, Kane and Co. look capable of returning to the postseason just as Bowman promised in training camp.

The addition of Dach makes the Hawks a more serious playoff contender in every way.

Chicago Tribune

Blackhawks hope they’re not the same team that allowed an NHL-record 33 shots in one period to the Lightning last season

Jimmy Greenfield Nov. 20, 2019

The shots began to pile up early and by the time the 20 minutes were over, the number on the scoreboard defied belief.

Thirty-three shots. In a single period.

Jonathan Toews doesn’t remember every game from his career. On Wednesday he couldn’t recall the 2009 game when Brent Seabrook scored in the 11th round of a shootout that’s being commemorated on Thursday with a Seabrook bobblehead. But he clearly recalls last season’s debacle at the United Center on Oct. 21, 2018, when the Lightning set a modern-day NHL record with those 33 shots in a crazy second period, scoring three goals.

“That was kind of the bottom for us, I think, where things were really hitting the fan,” Toews said. “If you know what I mean.”

The Blackhawks face the Lightning at the United Center for the first time since that game which — not to pick on Toews’ memory — wasn’t actually at a point when things were going badly. The Hawks entered the game 4-1-2 after beating the Blue Jackets the night before behind Corey Crawford’s 37 saves.

That left Cam Ward to play the second game of the back-to-back against the Lightning. By the time the 6-3 loss was over, Ward had faced 55 shots.

“I don’t even know what to say, to be honest,” an exhausted Ward said afterward.

The Hawks managed to win their next two games but then embarked on a losing streak that led to the firing of coach Joel Quenneville on Nov. 6. The Lightning went on to compile 128 points in the regular season, the fourth-most in NHL history.

“They can make plays and they were just burning us in every way imaginable,” Toews said. “I’d like to think we’ve made a lot of strides as a team this year and we’re a different team.”

The Hawks are a very different team. But have they made strides? That's not nearly as clear.

Remember defensemen Brandon Davidson and Jan Rutta, and forwards Alexandre Fortin and Andreas Martinsen? They were in the Hawks lineup last season against the Lightning, as were the now-retired and Ward, as well as Marcus Kruger, who is now playing overseas.

Only nine Hawks who played in last season’s game are expected to be in the lineup against the Lightning on Thursday. And yet this revamped Hawks team is allowing shots at a much higher rate than last season’s team.

The Hawks ended last season having allowed 34.8 shots per game, second-worst in the league. Over the first 21 games this season, the Hawks have allowed a league-worst 36.9 shots per game. They’ve outshot their opponents four times in 21 games.

“We don’t want to be outshot, but it’s not the only thing that we’re concerned with,” Hawks coach Jeremy Colliton said after Wednesday’s practice at Fifth Third Arena. "We’re probably more concerned with scoring chances and I think our team (has) the ability to convert at a pretty high rate. That’s what we did last year in the second half and that’s what we didn’t do at the beginning of this year.

“We weren’t creating that much less — I think basically an average of one chance a game less that we were creating — we just weren’t scoring. Now we’ve kind of fixed that, so if we can limit the quality that we’re giving up and get that goaltending, I think that’s a formula we can win with.”

The Hawks are giving up nearly the same number of scoring chances and high-danger chances as they did last season. According to naturalstattrick.com, the Hawks allowed 30.17 scoring chances per 60 minutes last season and 13.66 high- danger scoring chances, both last in the league.

This season they're second-worst in both categories with rates of 29.76 and 12.8.

“Everyone tracks (scoring chances) different, but for us it’s probably where the comes from, obviously where on the ice ... lateral plays and whether it’s a one-timer and rebounds, deflections,” Colliton said. "Those are all things that can change the definition. That’s why you get a lot of different numbers.

“Our numbers don’t necessarily match up with what’s publicly available. But that doesn’t mean we don’t look at those. It’s all relevant and, ultimately, you give up less, you’re going to be better.”

And if you don’t give up much less, as the Hawks haven’t this season compared with last, the importance of goaltending stands out.

Robin Lehner and Corey Crawford have combined for a .921 save percentage this season while splitting the starts. Last season, the Hawks had an .898 save percentage with Crawford, Ward and Collin Delia in net.

If Lehner and Crawford keep up their current save percentage and the Hawks give up the same number of shots as last season, they’ll finish with 65 fewer goals allowed. That likely would have been enough to get them into the last season and should bode well for this season.

One thing to keep in mind is that the defense this season rarely has played at full strength. Calvin de Haan missed the first two games of the season — both losses — and Connor Murphy has played only nine games after missing the season opener and then was out 11 games with a groin injury.

“Goaltending, no question, has been a big part of the success that we have had,” Colliton said. “We’re trying to limit the quality of the chances against. It’s definitely not where we want it to be, but I think we have made some progress there.”

Chicago Sun-Times

For Blackhawks’ centers, rapport with linesmen a big factor in winning faceoffs

Ben Pope Nov. 20, 2019

Captain can glance at the linesmen assigned to a Blackhawks game on any given night and make a pretty accurate prediction about how good his faceoff numbers will be.

As much as the NHL rulebook attempts to standardize faceoffs and fans perceive faceoff success (or lack thereof) as purely talent-based, there’s a side to it that requires as much schmooze as a college fundraiser.

‘‘It’s huge,’’ Toews said Wednesday. ‘‘[I’ve] probably burned a few bridges there over the years, but I’m trying my best to be friendly. . . . A big thing is talking to those guys and figuring out what their approach is for the game.’’

Of the 34 full-time linesmen employed by the NHL Officials Association, some follow the league rules to a fault and others employ their own standards.

And even the rules contain some gray area: Players, for example, are supposed to stand about one stick-length apart. Not only are all sticks not the same length, but referee perception of that varies even more.

After 894 career games and 17,547 career faceoffs, Toews knows all the ins and outs of the game within the game, and his relationships with the NHL’s longer-tenured linesmen run deep.

But when he spots a fresh face, it becomes time for a convenient pre-faceoff chat.

‘‘Nothing against the officials, but there are some young linesmen that you’ve never seen before, and sometimes they’re by-the-book,’’ Toews said. ‘‘I get a little frustrated when they’re letting the other team get the edge and cheat on draws a little bit more. So you’ve just got to find ways to know what to expect and what he’s going to do and when he’s going to drop the puck.’’

Young Dylan Strome, who has played in 127 games and taken 1,387 faceoffs at this point in his career, doesn’t have that same advantage.

‘‘If the ref likes you, he’s probably not going to back you up [from the dot] as much,’’ Strome said. ‘‘The closer you get to the dot, the better you’re going to be. So if a guy that’s a little bit older and mature can talk to the ref, that’s the way it goes.

‘‘A young ref is probably not going to tell [Toews] to back up too much, and he can get in there. That’s why he’s successful. He knows how to play the game.’’

The Hawks have struggled on faceoffs for years, with Toews often their lone center in the black.

General manager Stan Bowman brought in Ryan Carpenter, Zack Smith and during the offseason to help in that regard. But Smith and Shaw have underperformed substantially at the dot, and Carpenter’s success has varied by zone.

David Kampf probably never will be a strong draw-taking center, either. And Strome’s faceoff rate is most alarming of all: He sits at a lowly 41.7 percent and admitted Wednesday he knows he must ‘‘find a way to get that up.’’

At least the Hawks’ faceoff problems this season are concentrated in the offensive zone, where their .469 winning percentage ranks 28th. That the main factor in their overall rank of 26th.

‘‘We could be creating a lot more if we could win more [offensive-zone faceoffs],’’ coach Jeremy Colliton said. ‘‘But [in the] defensive zone, we’ve done quite a good job, and hopefully that continues. Doesn’t mean we’re satisfied with it, and we’re going to continue to work at it.’’

The Daily Herald

Chicago Blackhawks wary of another Lightning strike

John Dietz Nov. 20, 2019

Jonathan Toews has played in nearly 900 regular-season games for the Blackhawks over the past dozen years, with some obviously sticking out more than others.

Case in point: After practice Wednesday, a hopeful reporter asked Toews what he remembered about Brent Seabrook's 11th-round shootout winner against Columbus on Dec. 2, 2009.

Toews surprised us with: "Nothing. Sorry to disappoint on that one."

One game, however, that Toews had no problem recalling was last season's 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay in which the Lightning tied an NHL record by firing 33 shots at Cam Ward in the second period.

"They can make plays and they were just burning us in every way imaginable," said Toews, whose Hawks will host the Lightning at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Ward managed to steer 30 of those attempts away, but goals by Anthony Cirelli, and Ryan McDonagh allowed Tampa to take a 4-1 lead.

The fast-and-furious flurries included sequences of 4 shots in six seconds, 3 shots in 15 seconds and 4 shots in 20 seconds.

"That was a tough, tough period in all aspects," then-coach Joel Quenneville said afterward. "I don't think we touched the puck at all, and that was the part that was disturbing."

The Lightning improved to 5-1-1 that October night en route to a remarkable 62-16-4 campaign. Of course, they were then unceremoniously swept from the playoffs by Columbus in one of the biggest upsets in NHL history.

Most pundits figured the uber-talented Lightning would storm through the regular season again, but that has not been the case.

Not even close.

Coach 's squad is scuffling along at 9-7-2 and is in sixth place in the Atlantic Division. They are still an extremely dangerous squad, however, that is led by , Nikita Kucherov, , Tyler Johnson, Yanni Gourde and D-men and Kevin Shattenkirk. Point, Stamkos and Kucherov are all coming off 40-goal seasons.

"Even considering what happened to them last year in the playoffs they're still a favorite to go deep in the playoffs this year," Toews said. "Say what you want -- they're maybe not on fire right now but doesn't matter. They're always a good team."

Said Patrick Kane, who takes a 10-game point streak into the contest: "They had an unbelievable season last year. A lot of offense, fast team. You look up and down their lineup, (they've) got speed and skill and guys that can score on every line, so got to be aware when you're on the ice of that."

Especially in the second period. Or last year's debacle might repeat itself.

Hawks coach Jeremy Colliton has preached all season the importance of the middle period because it's where the elite teams expose the weaker ones. Through 21 games, the Hawks have only been outscored 17-15 in the second, but they've been outshot 266-198.

Opponents are taking advantage of the Hawks' lack of speed on the back end and firing stretch passes down ice in an attempt to catch them off guard. It worked to perfection Tuesday when Carolina's Jacob Slavin hit Andrei Svechnikov, and it led to a Svechnikov goal seconds later.

After practice Wednesday, Colliton said he'd like to see the Hawks reverse this trend.

"We'd prefer not to have all five guys changing at one time," he said. "If you're 30 seconds into your shift, it's probably a lot easier to get it deep, to have pressure on the puck, to not all change at once.

"But if you're hemmed in for (over a minute), then it becomes trickier. We want to do it to teams where we expose them and keep their 'D' out and don't let them change, and that's what teams are trying to do to us.

"It's no secrets, really. Just about execution."

NBC Sports Chicago

Patrick Kane unhappy about Sebastian Aho cross-check: 'I just don't like that play'

Charlie Roumeliotis Nov. 20, 2019

Patrick Kane is as durable an athlete as they come.

Since the start of the 2015-16 season, he’s missed only one game and it was because of an illness on Oct. 31, 2018 vs. Calgary, which ended a 258-game Iron Man streak.

The only time he’s missed significant action in his NHL career came during the 2014-15 campaign when he broke his collarbone and was sidelined for the final 21 games of the regular season.

Tuesday ignited some flashbacks for the former Hart Trophy winner.

With under a minute to play in regulation and the Blackhawks trailing by one, Kane went to retrieve the puck along the boards in the offensive zone and was cross-checked from behind by Sebastian Aho. Kane took a heavy, scary spill into the boards and it looked very similar to the hit defenseman Alex Petrovic laid on him on Feb. 24, 2015 that ended his MVP-type regular season.

"I just don't like that play," Kane said after practice on Wednesday. "I'm pretty sensitive to that play because that's kind of how I broke my collarbone four or five years ago. I just don't like that play where you're going in, your back's turned, you get the cross-check in the back when you're unsuspecting and the puck's not there, so I think that's where the frustration came from."

There was no called and Kane threw his hands up in disbelief. The unfortunate part about the play is Aho probably gets a penalty if Kane stays down on the ice, but Kane’s instincts kicked in and he quickly got back up to try keeping the puck in the zone.

Frustrating boiled over after Aho scored the empty-netter with 17.6 seconds left to ice the game. Kane skated over to Aho and gave him a cross-check of his own, which resulted in a 10-minute misconduct.

"When I got hit like that I was just trying to keep the play alive because I thought they would for sure call it, to be honest with you,” Kane said. “But there's plays throughout the game that don't get called and that's just the way it is. That one's probably more magnified because of the situation and how much time was left."

The Athletic (Chicago)

Transition from Senators’ veteran to Blackhawks’ newcomer took Zack Smith some time

Scott Powers Nov. 20, 2019

Zack Smith wasn’t worried about Chicago’s winter when joining the Blackhawks this season.

That he had some familiarity with coming from Ottawa.

“They were saying, ‘It’s cold here, it’s cold,’” Smith said. “I’m like, ‘Well, it was in Ottawa. Ottawa’s cold.’”

With everything else, Smith assumed there would differences going from the to the Blackhawks. He just wasn’t sure how different it would be. After being drafted by the Senators and spending 10 NHL seasons with the organization, he was shipped to the Blackhawks for Artem Anisimov this past offseason. Smith came in knowing just one former teammate, Robin Lehner, and one former coach, Marc Crawford. Otherwise, he was starting from a clean slate. He wasn’t sure what that would mean in a lot of different ways.

Now a few months into his time with the Blackhawks, Smith recently discussed how that transition was more difficult than he originally imagined and how he’s finally feeling more at ease with his new team.

“Took a lot of new stuff to get used to,” the 31-year-old Smith said recently. “I think I was a little naïve to how much of a change it would be just to be in a different setting and a different city.”

That began in training camp. Smith was hoping to make a strong first impression and secure a stable spot in the Blackhawks’ lineup. That didn’t happen. He was disappointed with his own play and doesn’t fault Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton for his limited ice time or making him a healthy scratch at times over the first 14 games.

It was definitely different than with the Senators, though. Smith went through a tough time last season with being unexpectedly put on waivers, but he was still a mainstay in their lineup whenever healthy. The last time he was a healthy scratch before this season was Nov. 15, 2015. This season, he’s been one seven times. He played in the Blackhawks’ first five games and then was a healthy scratch for seven of the next nine games.

Smith’s pride took a blow as he sat those games. He’s a veteran player, had success in the NHL and was optimistic he could bring something to the Blackhawks. It wasn’t easy to swallow, but he forced himself to spin it in a positive way.

“Especially being a healthy scratch, everybody wants to play,” Smith said. “Nobody wants to be in that position. It’s a pride thing. You don’t want to be sitting out games too. At the same time, it’s an opportunity to reflect and rest. As I’m getting older, a few other issues to deal with the body. You try to look at the positives of it. It’s a good opportunity to get some good workouts in, good skates. Just kind of stoke that fire to get back into the lineup and want to make a difference when you get a chance. I think it’s kind of helped in a way for me.

“It’s a competitive team in here. You’re upset when you’re not playing, but at the same time you look around and the talent in this room, the good team we have, the good group of guys, especially up front, it’s not easy to get into the lineup. We have a lot of good guys, everyone’s healthy, it’s tough. At this point, just trying to do whatever I can, contribute on the ice, stay in the lineup. The goal is to win. When you’re winning, things are good within the team.”

Smith also realized he had to take advantage of the opportunity whenever he got it. Against the on Nov. 7, Smith was placed back into the lineup when Colliton decided to sit Dominik Kubalik for a game. Smith made the most of that chance and helped out in a victory. Since then, he’s remained in the lineup.

Smith has been mostly on the fourth line with Ryan Carpenter and Kirby Dach of late. He had a primary assist and a second assist with that line in the Blackhawks’ recent win over the and set up Dach for a goal in the Blackhawks’ win over the on Sunday.

Colliton has been pleased with Smith and that line.

“I think the last time he went in, I guess it was the Vancouver game,” Colliton said on Wednesday. “Since then, he’s been very active. I think he’s skating better and making more plays. The line with Carpenter and Dach, they’ve been really good, and playing a more physical game. I think he was doing that before, it wasn’t that he wasn’t, but just giving us more positive shifts. It’s allowed him to kind of solidify his spot.”

From a physical standpoint, Smith believes he can be the same player he was when at his best with the Senators. He missed 26 games over the previous two seasons due to injuries.

“I hope I feel better physically than the last two years,” Smith said. “But I’m feeling a lot better now. Speed-wise, skating-wise, when everything’s going, I feel as fast or faster than I was five, six years ago. It’s a process. It’s a long year. You got to learn now as you get older you got to put a lot more time in your body and get prepared and get warmed up and stretching and all that stuff. As long as you stay on top of that, you usually feel pretty good.”

Smith has felt like he just needs a bounce to go his way to get that first goal of the season.

“I’m just trying to grind it out,” Smith said. “Hopefully take one off the shin pads or off the back or off the helmet here to get my first of the year. I think that’s what it’ll take.”

Part of Smith’s adjustment to the Blackhawks was the on-ice portion, but there was also the off-ice side. He was a team leader with the Senators. He knew everyone. Arriving to the Blackhawks as a new guy, his presence didn’t carry that weight any longer.

Smith was also mindful of recognizing the situation and not forcing himself onto the room. That’s just not him. He eased into it.

“I was in one place for so long, you’re comfortable,” Smith said. “You get new faces, but it’s a slow turnover. As opposed to coming here, I know one guy coming in here, Lehner. You don’t want to overstep your boundaries when you first get here, at least the way I am anyways. Trying to get to know everyone, the type of room it is, feeling a little bit more comfortable now. Especially when you’re staying in the lineup more than one game, two games in a row, you’re able to take that role.

“It is a lot of different, but I’m enjoying it. It’s a great opportunity to learn from a lot of guys. I was excited to come over here, learn from guys who have won three Cups, two Cups. Probably taken more of an observation role than I expected, but that just goes to show how much talent and experience we have on this team.”

Colliton didn’t downplay that either. He understood coming to a new team from being somewhere for so long can be a challenge.

“It’s his first time he’s needed to change teams and he was probably very comfortable in that dressing room, and now to come here, he’s probably had to feel it out a little bit, and I think he’s very well-liked in the room and the guys want him to do well,” Colliton said. “But it’s still hard, it’s a new situation.”

There was a report out of Ottawa last month that the Blackhawks were already looking to move Smith, who is signed through the 2020-21 season. Smith said he had a friend relay the report to him, but he hadn’t heard anything personally about the Blackhawks wanting to trade him.

As for his old team, Smith does check up on the Senators. He’s not one to follow too much hockey outside of the team he’s playing for, but he keeps an eye on the Senators and his old friends.

A part of him will always be with the Senators.

“Ten years with an organization, you have a lot of memories and a lot of good friends,” Smith said. “Fortunate to look back on my time there. I’m happy with how things went. It was a big part of our life. But we’re more than happy to be there. It was an exciting chance and we’re loving the city and the group of guys here and everything. It’s been an easy step in a new direction, been enjoying it.”

Blackhawks.com

THE VERDICT: Scotty Bowman's Legendary Hockey Mind on Display

Bob Verdi Nov. 20, 2019

According to Scotty Bowman, the 2014-15 champion Blackhawks belong among the eight best teams ever.

That's quite a badge for the reborn franchise, but because Bowman's fertile mind never rests, he conducts a hypothetical playoff to determine a winner. His breakdown can be found toward the end of "Scotty: A Hockey Life Like No Other," a definitive book that is overdue but worth the wait.

The new release was pegged by "The Hockey News" as "a work about a hockey genius written by a hockey genius," and there will be no attempt here to amend that. At the front door of a pantheon for history's most successful sports executives, coaches and managers, Bowman would serve as gatekeeper. Debates about who else and how many others belong are inevitable, but not regarding Scotty. He gets a bye.

Granted, Bowman's son Stan served as the Blackhawks Senior Vice President/General Manager in 2015, plus two Cups before that, and is still at his post wanting more. But he won't catch Dad, whose three rings as ongoing Senior Advisor of Hockey Operations in Chicago occupy but a corner of his jewelry box. He's got 14. He doesn't just like shiny objects. He gathers them.

But did you know that Bowman's vault also contains four championship watches, earned when he was being groomed for greatness within the dynasty during the late 1950s? That was when the city's mayor, Jean Drapeau, would announce to his citizenry at season's end that "the parade will follow the usual route." This is another gem tucked within a book that entertains and informs.

Bowman always possessed a keen eye for talent, and he selected the perfect author in Ken Dryden, a Hall of Fame goalkeeper who, upon retiring, took a pay cut and became a better writer than us writers. That's humbling, but the mood passes when consuming Dryden's artful manner of connecting Bowman to the game's trajectory. An autobiography might have worked, but not as well as 377 pages where Bowman expounds and Dryden expands.

Bill Cowley and the Bruins were early favorites of Scotty's. He picked up their radio broadcasts as a kid in Montreal. Bowman played as a youth, until he suffered a fractured skull from a vicious stick wielded by Jean-Guy Talbot. Scotty became a paint salesman, but cleverly arranged his schedule so as to sneak into Canadiens practices at the Forum. He did not go unnoticed.

Sam Pollock, talk about a genius, brought Bowman to join him with the Junior Canadiens in 1956. Scotty was 22 and on his way, albeit there were interludes. He scouted but craved coaching. He did that in the Central League but quit. He returned to coach the Junior Canadiens, and when the NHL grew to 12 franchises in 1967, he was hired by the St. Louis Blues.

Bowman met his future wife, Suella, there. He acquired Talbot, put him in the lineup, though they never discussed the incident. Bowman guided the Blues to three straight trips to the Final. In 1971, Bowman returned home to his dream job. Head Coach, Les Canadiens.

In 1973, the Canadiens beat the Blackhawks in the Final, Bowman's first Cup. Shortly thereafter, Scotty and Suella welcomed their third child. He would be named Stan, as in Stanley. Starting in 1976, Scotty and Dryden captured four consecutive Stanley Cups. During that outrageous reign, Montreal played 378 games, including playoffs, and lost only 56.

Bowman identifies his 1976-77 Canadiens among the ultra-elite eight. Also cited are the 1951-52 , 1955-56 Canadiens, 1962-63 Maple Leafs, 1981-82 , 1983-84 and his 2001- 02 Detroit Red Wings. He heaps high praise on the aforementioned 2014-15 Blackhawks, likening Jonathan Toews to Jean Beliveau and Patrick Kane to Guy Lafleur. Bowman also lauds , Brent Seabrook, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp and Corey Crawford.

Which team of Scotty's ultra-elite eight prevails? Turn to page 370.

As a hobby, Bowman has embraced golf, proof that he owns at least one vulnerability. He plays and officiates. During the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, journalists walked inside the ropes, all the better to witness a Tiger Woods happening. But besides his caddie, nobody was closer to Woods than Scotty, the walking scorer. That includes the rest of the field. Tiger romped by 15 shots. He made history. Scotty recorded it.

As for Dryden, he arrived in Montreal a year before Bowman, very late in 1971. He debuted against brother Dave, a former Blackhawk then with the Buffalo Sabres. That was a first. Then Ken took over the Canadiens net for the playoffs, beat the Blackhawks and won the Conn Smythe Trophy in a transcendental seven-game Final. Having logged only six regular-season starts, Dryden snagged the Calder Trophy as best rookie a year later.

Incongruous, but true. The mere mention of Ken Dryden sends chills throughout longtime Blackhawk fans, but wouldn't you love to write a book about a former boss?

The Athletic (Tampa)

Stanley Cup-champion Blues show Lightning just how far they have to go

Joe Smith Nov. 20, 2019

ST. LOUIS — For a few moments Tuesday night, Lightning wing Pat Maroon got caught up in a coronation.

Maroon, 31, a hometown hero for the Blues’ Stanley Cup team last season, watched highlights on the JumboTron at Enterprise Center in a touching pregame video tribute. They showed his big hits and big goals during St. Louis’ unforgettable playoff run. The lasting image was of Maroon hoisting hockey’s holy grail.

As the sellout crowd roared, Maroon beamed as he tried on his Cup ring, which was delivered by general manager Doug Armstrong.

“It’s a memory I’ll never forget,” Maroon said.

He better cherish it. Because for the next three hours, Maroon and the Lightning got a humbling lesson on just how far they are from reaching that pinnacle.

The Blues beat Tampa Bay 3-1 on Tuesday in a showdown that wasn’t that close. The defending champs were mentally and physically tougher and wore down the Lightning, knocking Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov out of the game with a hard — but clean — hit by Brayden Schenn late in the second period. Tampa Bay, the highest-scoring team in the league, was smothered, held to just 18 shots on goal (10 over the final two periods).

“They are a team that will wear you down, just wear you down, wear you down,” Maroon said. “We gave them every opportunity to make their game really successful.

“We’ve got to be better. I don’t know what else to say anymore. This team has got to be better.”

The Lightning (9-7-2) have lost two straight, both to physical, heavy Western Conference teams (Winnipeg, St. Louis) after a seemingly galvanizing trip to Sweden and a thumping of the rebuilding Rangers. If it feels like a step back, it is. Tampa Bay’s top players — their three 40-goal scorers from a year ago (Kucherov, Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point) — were non-factors, a combined minus-3 with zero shots on goal.

Kucherov’s night was over with a few minutes left in the second after Schenn’s hit. “I just saw him dump the puck in, turned up, just went through him, finished him,” Schenn said. “I thought it was a clean check, and hopefully he’s okay.”

It was telling that the Lightning’s fourth line — Maroon, Cedric Paquette and Yanni Gourde — had as many shifts in the final four minutes of a one-goal game as Stamkos and Point.

And it was revealing that Maroon, the only Cup champ in the Tampa Bay dressing room, was left to provide accountability postgame with Stamkos (the team said he was getting treatment) and Kucherov unavailable. Coach Jon Cooper said Kucherov’s inability to return had nothing to do with a concussion-protocol situation.

“He couldn’t return,” Cooper said. “He tried, but he couldn’t.”

Ever since the Lightning’s stunning first-round collapse against Columbus in April, they’ve tried to reshape their identity. They aimed to blend their high-skill mode with less risk, be more responsible defensively and generally be harder to play against. It feels like they wanted to be more like the Blues, which is admirable, but the fact is they’re not built the same way.

The Blues decided they didn’t want to get involved in a run-and-gun game with the Lightning on Tuesday, so they didn’t. Tampa Bay seems stuck somewhere in the middle, an identity crisis of sorts.

“We’re getting there,” Point said. “We still have a lot to work on. It still takes some time. We’re trying to change almost the whole philosophy of how we’re playing games. But we’re getting more responsible with the puck, taking more pride in our D-zone, which is nice. We’re getting there.”

But clearly not quickly enough.

“(This loss) was a testament to what we need to do to get better,” Maroon said. “Sixteen shots on net? That’s not good enough. Turnovers? That’s not good enough. Strong on pucks? Not good enough. We’ve got to find a way to be better emotionally and finish. We have to set the next line up, be responsible with the puck, do the right thing for the team. And once you do that, you’ll see the results. You’re not going to see results overnight. Right now, we’ve got to find ways to get out of it.”

The Blues provide a blueprint in another way: through their mental toughness, their resolve. They had lost three straight games coming in and have been one of the worst teams in the league in 5-on-5 scoring (partly due to the injury to Vladimir Tarasenko). But they found a way, scoring two even-strength goals against Tampa Bay, which added just an even-strength tally by Anthony Cirelli early in the first.

“You have to get to the inside,” coach Jon Cooper said. “That’s ultimately what you have to do. They’ve got some big boys, there’s no question. But I’m not sure we fought hard enough to get there. But you have to have the puck to do that. Too often in the game, we turned it over and we weren’t giving ourselves a chance to get it through.”

The Lightning were quick to give the Blues credit for their system, for how disciplined they were. Wing Alex Killorn said the “defining moment” of the game came in the second period when St. Louis came out with more aggression. What the Blues are doing is, to an extent, what the Lightning are trying to work toward.

“I mean, look at how it worked for them last year. The proof is in the pudding,” Killorn said. “I think our team is definitely a different makeup than them, but it’s the same idea of keeping things simple. You can’t give the other team momentum with turnovers and stuff like that.”

When Maroon discussed what the Lightning needed to do better, it had nothing to do with high-skill plays, creativity or scoring chances. It was all about the little things.

“We have to figure out how to limit turnovers,” he said, “have to figure out how to play the right way, manage the puck a little better, attention to detail. Want to dump the puck in, want to make the right play, want to make the strong play on the boards, want to sacrifice yourself for your team, even if it’s getting the puck in at the other blue line. We have to find out ways to do that, and right now it’s costing us.”

It starts with the Lightning’s stars. Stamkos, who scored his 400th career goal Saturday, was a minus-2 Tuesday with no shot attempts and just a 15-percent success rate on his draws (2-of-11). He could be playing hurt, as he didn’t participate in the morning skate due to “body maintenance.”

Kucherov’s stat line looks good on the surface (six goals and 18 points in 17 games), but he’s been frustrated for a while. Just look at his body language. We would love to know more, but when the 26-year-old was requested after scoring a big goal in a win in Sweden against the Sabres, Kucherov told the assembled horde of reporters, “No media,” and walked away.

Point, who had double hip surgery in the offseason, is off to a slow start after missing most of training camp. He stole the show in his season debut with two goals and an assist Oct. 10 in Toronto. But since then, he has scored just two goals and notched seven assists in 14 games — a minus-2.

Point said there are still “ups and downs” with his hips, but overall he isn’t bothered by them physically or mentally.

“Just coming back from surgery, not skating a lot in the summer, and then pretty much starting to skate and get into games, it’s challenging,” Point said. “But there’s no excuse now. It’s been enough time to where I can get my cardio and get into the swing of things.

“But a big part of it is timing and just the speed. scrimmages and skate in the summer all you want. But you can’t replicate game speed and game intensity. I think that’s probably the biggest thing.”

There will be fans who will wonder if Cooper should be on the hot seat. And no one is immune from criticism here. The longest-tenured coach in the league has a significant challenge on his hands, albeit with three-quarters of the season still left to go. The Lightning are tied with the Rangers for the fewest games played so far (18), but they still have to win the games in hand to keep up their playoff pace.

Cooper recalled speaking with Blues coach Craig Berube at June’s NHL Awards, when both were finalists for the Jack Adams coach of the year award. Berube told Cooper that so many things had to go right for St. Louis to win the Cup.

But some characteristics stood out to Berube in winning it all.

“Well, it was a good team on paper, for sure,” Berube said. “Defense is really solid, goaltending solid, but I thought our team really rebounded well (from) losses, didn’t let a thing bother them.

“Mental toughness was a big thing with our team. Over the course of the season, we got tougher and tougher mentally. We became hard to play against. And, going into the playoffs, when you’re a hard team to play against, you’re mentally tough, you have a good chance. It doesn’t mean (you’ll win it all), but you have a good chance. Because you will not win if you don’t play hard.”

Is mental toughness something you can improve as a coach, I asked Berube, or is it up to the team itself?

“As a coaching staff, we talk about it a lot and bring things up,” Berube said. “But the players have to go through it.”

And the Lightning found out Tuesday how far they have to go.

The Athletic (Tampa)

From roller hockey to a Stanley Cup: How Pat Maroon is ‘driving the bus’ for the Lightning

Joe Smith Nov. 19, 2019

ST. LOUIS — It was midway through the first period of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final in May, and the Blues — having never hoisted hockey’s holy grail — were trailing the favored Bruins at TD Garden.

Down 1-0 in the series and 1-0 on the ice, St. Louis defenseman Robert Bortuzzo scored to tie it up, partially thanks to a sizable screen in front by 6-foot-2, 236-pound forward Patrick Maroon. As Maroon skated back to his bench for celebratory fist bumps, he heard Bruins players chirping.

So Maroon delivered a dagger of his own to the Boston players.

“You guys are fucked.”

It was a colorful phrase that set the tone — and ended up on Blues fans’ T-shirts during their championship parade a week or so later.

It was also quintessential Maroon, 31, a character with character, the lifeblood of any dressing room, whose presence and personality became the perfect elixir for his hometown Blues winning the Stanley Cup last spring.

“There was always a way where Pat would make sure he’d assert himself,” said former Blues enforcer . “He’s a hometown boy, (raised in an Italian family,) and we had all the Italians in the city buying tickets and coming to games. He had everyone excited. For him, it’s kind of like (former Cardinals outfielder and 2011 World Series MVP) David Freese, a hometown hero who comes back and is a big part of them winning.

“That’ll be with him for the rest of his life. The city will always have a soft spot and warm place for Pat.”

Maroon will have an emotional return Tuesday at the Enterprise Center, where he will be presented with his Cup ring before the Lightning face the Blues. He’s the only player in the Tampa Bay room who has won a Cup, and just a month into the season, you can already sense how his impact has been felt off the ice.

Even captain Steven Stamkos said Maroon is helping to bring the team together — often for dinner or beers — and his fingerprints were all over their galvanizing trip to Sweden.

It won’t show up in analytics or on the back of his hockey card, but Maroon’s intangibles have been a big part of his success since his roller-hockey days in St Louis.

Just ask the teams he’s played for — from the Ducks and Oilers to the Devils and Blues — Maroon could be a difference- maker in a Lightning playoff run.

“I think he’ll help them understand a lot of different situations, what goes on, the ups and downs of it,” said Blues Conn Smythe winner Ryan O’Reilly. “(The Lightning) were a team last year that dominated and then once they got in the playoffs fell apart. We were a team that struggled early, and there were so many lessons throughout that. I think he can be that voice for them and help them out in those times when they are struggling and things aren’t well.”

When Maroon had his day with the Cup last summer, one of the places he brought the trophy was to All American Sports Mall.

It was here where Maroon’s passion for hockey was sparked — on wheels, not skates. From the age of 8, you’d have to kick him off the roller-hockey rink, uncle Rob Ferrara said. “He’d even play goal just to stay out there,” Ferrara said.

Ferrara will never forget when he told the 8-year-old Maroon he had to do his homework.

“He said, ‘I’m going to the NHL,'” Ferrara said. “I’m like, ‘You still need to learn how to read!'”

In a way, the four-on-four game was made for Maroon, who was never fleet afoot. There were fewer stops and starts than in , but most of the basic skills were the same.

“In the summer, I’d go up there myself and my parents would give me three bucks. It was enough to get a soda and chips and hang out all day until 4, and then they’d pick me up,” Maroon said. “I’d use my money wisely. But I became a rink rat.

“I’m not the fastest skater. But I had an opportunity to work on my hands every day, work on my vision and puck skills. It brought me to where I am today.”

Chase, the former Blues forward, saw Maroon play roller hockey and thought he’d be a great fit for a North team he co-owned, the Texarkana Bandits. Chase brought Maroon to see the Bandits’ up-and-coming, 38-year-old coach Jon Cooper.

Maroon was a 200-pound, 17-year-old roller-hockey player who had never advanced past Double-A midget. As Chase joked, Maroon could “stickhandle in a phone booth, but he couldn’t fit in one.”

Still, Cooper saw potential.

“As a 16-year-old kid, he had grown up and out,” Cooper joked. “So he still had a little bit of baby fat. I saw the hands, but clearly he needed to get in shape. We created a group called ‘The Chub Club,’ and he had to be part of it.

“I watched the evolution of Pat Maroon. In junior, he was the guy. He was our Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov. You talk about one of the elite players in junior.”

Cooper said neither he nor Maroon might be in the NHL now had it not been for the championship they won together that season. They took a chance on each other.

Cooper, despite not having an extensive playing background, began to develop his reputation as a winner.

Maroon, admittedly still maturing, found his confidence. And he started to show his penchant for being a guy to whom teammates gravitated.

He had a pregame tradition with assistant coach Brian Garlock where they’d pick how many goals he’d score that game. One game, he told Garlock he’d get a hat trick. Each time he’d score a goal, he’d come back to the bench and say to Garlock, “That’s one,” and “That’s two.”

That’s Pat.

Maroon was the team’s best player and a key leader. When the Bandits lost in the round-robin playoffs to the Mahoning Valley (Ohio) Phantoms, there were some nerves heading into the rematch in the title game in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Maroon put his arm around Chase in a reassuring way.

“You nervous?” Chase asked.

“I didn’t come all the way to Alaska to lose,” Maroon replied. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to let you down.”

Maroon ended up being named the MVP of the finals, having totaled five points in the clinching game. After it was over and the Bandits hoisted the Robertson Cup, he came up to Chase with a big smile. He hugged him.

“I told you.”

In 2007 — after Maroon’s tryout for Cooper, when a Bandits scout said he wouldn’t “waste a tender” on him — the St. Louis native was drafted in the sixth round by the Flyers.

Maroon had a rocky start to his pro career. He was at odds with his coach in the AHL, Greg Gilbert of the . Maroon was benched and sent home before eventually getting traded to the Ducks.

It was a wake-up call and a fresh start. He spent parts of four seasons with Anaheim, learning from veterans like Ryan Getzlaf, and . He found out how to be a pro and grew into the kind of dressing-room presence you see today.

“Over the years, he’s kind of developed the ability to be on the edge, whether it’d be on or off the ice,” Getzlaf said. “There’s a lot of things in the past that were detrimental to his game, and now he’s been able to grow as a person and as a player and use those to his advantage. He’s an unbelievable locker-room guy. But he’s also a very emotional kid, and that works for him and against him at times. With Patty, there’s growing up that goes with it.”

“He was just a 16-17-year-old, and I don’t want to say he was immature, but he was just a young kid,” Cooper said. “I believe he was kind of pushed around when he went pro, and there are some situations where he was scratched, sent to the minors, told he wasn’t going to play, was traded. And Pat had to find his way.

“The one thing Pat always had was people are drawn to him, and there’s a reason: because he has that personality, and he’s always had that. I always consider Patty a character who has character. He can be a funny guy in the room, but he can do things on the ice that some other guys just won’t do.”

Maroon became a great role model and friend to Connor McDavid in Edmonton as the superstar center went from being the No. 1 pick to the Hart Trophy winner. The two hung out off the ice and had dinners at Maroon’s house. They carved pumpkins on Halloween, and Maroon joked that’s the one thing McDavid isn’t good at.

“He was a very big emotional leader for us,” McDavid said. “He did lots for me — on the ice and off the ice. We were very close. Definitely one of my favorite teammates.”

The Devils picked up Maroon at the 2018 trade deadline, and coach John Hynes suggested the veteran forward was a big reason they made the playoffs before losing in the first round to Cooper’s Lightning.

“He wanted to fit in and do all those little things that guys don’t want to do,” said Devils goaltender Cory Schneider, who was recently sent down to the AHL. “Fighting, standing in front of the net. He does all the stuff that goes unnoticed. But I liked him for our room, and I could see why he fit on a team like St. Louis.

“His game is suited for the playoffs — the heavy, grind-it-out game.”

But who knew that Maroon would be the missing piece that enabled his hometown Blues to end their championship drought? The team faced a ton of adversity, watching coach Mike Yeo get fired in November and falling to last place in the NHL in January before rallying for a remarkable run.

“Whether it was joking around with the guys or not being afraid to say what needed to be said in the room, he just brought so many different pieces,” O’Reilly said. “There were a lot of ups and downs throughout the year, and when we were struggling, it was tough. But I don’t think he ever came to the rink and didn’t have a good time. You wanted to be around him. He was just a guy who always made it enjoyable, and you saw in the playoffs how dominant he was. He’s missed here. It’s not just what you see on the ice; his presence off the ice is monumental. It’s tough to replace. No one can really fill that spot.”

Maroon scored one of the biggest goals in franchise history last season, the Game 7 overtime winner against Dallas in the second round. It came off a faceoff play that he and linemate Robert Thomas had practiced.

With the high stakes, with the season on the line, Maroon delivered another one of his calming moments.

“I remember on that draw specifically, we were just laughing going into it,” Thomas said. “We knew what play we wanted to run, and we knew that it would work at some point. He was laughing, like, ‘This is the one, we’ve got to do it!’”

The Lightning didn’t enter the summer thinking they’d land Maroon.

Like many in hockey, Cooper believed Maroon, the local hero, would return to the Blues.

But as the summer dragged on and St. Louis was still working on its restricted free agents, Maroon began to consider other options. Any options.

As much as Maroon has been beloved by teammates at each stop, he was now looking for his fourth team in as many years. Part of that has been due to the changing needs of each organization or their cap situations (in fact, there were a number of veteran UFAs that went unsigned even into the season, like former Lightning center ).

In late August, Tampa Bay signed Maroon to a one-year, $900,000 deal. The Lightning had never really had his kind of size and presence in the bottom six or on the power play. Having lost vocal leaders , Anton Stralman and Dan Girardi, who had been colorful and calm under pressure — “glue guys,” Stamkos called them — adding Maroon made sense.

It didn’t take long for Maroon to be a voice of reason in the dressing room and a ringleader on the road.

“He has such a bubbly personality,” Stamkos said. “He’s a funny guy. And the thing I’ve noticed the most is how inclusive he is with everyone, how we want to do it together as a team. That’s been huge for our leadership group. Sometimes he’ll give perspective on how the team in St. Louis last year came together at the right time. He’s been a big part of everything we do as a team, whether it’s going to dinner or for a few beers or just to hang out.

“He’s been driving the bus in terms of wanting everyone together.”

It hasn’t been just Maroon. Veteran defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, bought out by the Rangers in July, has been vocal and accountable, as well. Backup goalie Curtis McElhinney has been a steady pro. It’s not easy to step into a veteran- laden team that’s been together for years, but Maroon strikes the right balance.

“He’s got the reputation already, been in this league a long time,” Stamkos said. “The way he plays, the way he conducts himself. When you win the Stanley Cup, there’s even more of a reputation. It’s not easy, but he’s got the personality that allows him to do it.”

When the Lightning were struggling early on, Maroon sensed the players’ pain and was open about how many were “living in the past” and had to move on from their historic season that ended so stunningly in the playoffs. “Fuck last year,” he said.

When the Lightning had players-only outings on road, Maroon was usually the orchestrator. When Tampa won back-to- back games in Sweden, it was Maroon’s line that formed their identity.

“I truly believe when you win a Stanley Cup, and even drawing back to junior, it was the same formula,” Cooper said. “The team was extremely close off the ice. They didn’t play with each other, the players played for each other. Those are the teams that win, and (Maroon has) recognized that and stepped right to the forefront to make that happen.

“He walks the line of confidence and cocky. But he’s shown that he can back up what he says. And the other thing is you have to have an identity and understand your role, and he stays in his lane. He knows his role and he plays it on the ice and has a different role off the ice. For us to win, you need guys to understand that, and he definitely does.”

Maroon is wary of talking about his experience with the Blues too much. He’s on a new team now, he says, and it’s time to make some new memories. But when teammates ask how St. Louis handled adversity and won in the playoffs, he’s happy to offer some insight.

His chirping on the ice provides some levity and makes Tampa Bay players feel taller. There hasn’t been a “You guys are fucked” moment yet. But don’t rule out something similar happening down the line.

“It’s just how I am,” Maroon said. “It’s how I want to play. I want to be engaged at all times because if I’m not engaged, I’m not doing much. If I’m engaged, I’m talking, I’m doing my thing, I’m helping my team.”

When Maroon was mic’d up for an early-season Lightning game against Colorado, it made for great theater and a window into his personality. He cracked teammates up with his loud reaction to trying smelling salts pregame. He chirped the other team: “You’re tough now that the refs came, eh? Tough guy? … Drop your gloves.”

When the Lightning fell behind 5-1, Maroon kept the chatter on the bench going: “Hey, boys, keep your heads up. Let’s just chip away, chip away. Find a way.”

And a few games later, when Rangers forward Micheal Haley tried to goad him into a mid-ice fight, Maroon passed and raced to the net to finish an odd-man rush. As Maroon circled the goal, he gestured to Haley, “Count it.”

“It’s a rough, 82-game season with all the travel and the games. It can wear on you,” said Oilers forward Zack Kassian. “When you see him around the room, he keeps it light. He likes to have some fun. He’s a good guy to be around day in day out. He can fit on every team.

“Every team needs a guy like Pat Maroon.”

Monday night, on the eve of his emotional return to Enterprise Center, Maroon sat down for a quiet family dinner at Charlie Gitto’s in downtown St. Louis.

The charming Italian restaurant is owned by the parents of Maroon’s fiancee, Francesca, Jim and Karen Vangel (try the chicken parm and toasted ravioli!). Maroon was joined by Francesca, his son (from a previous relationship), Anthony, his father, Phil, Jim Vangel and Francesca’s brother, Louis, who manages the restaurant.

They were at a circular corner table, “The Lasorda Table,” named after family friend and former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda. This is the table on which Maroon rested the Stanley Cup during his Cup day in July, eating toasted ravioli out of the silver chalice. Maroon pulls out his cellphone to show me a photo of the marinara-filled trophy, which was well-traveled that unforgettable day.

“It was just a blur,” Phil said, laughing.

Phil and his wife, Patti, would bring their four kids — Jennifer, 38, Phil, 35, Justin 33 and Pat — to Blues games during the Brett Hull and era. His sons would sometimes take turns sitting on his lap, with the other taking the neighboring seat. It’s still surreal to the entire family that Pat, the kid who grew up playing roller hockey here, who went from suspect to prospect with the hometown Bandits, was able to bring the Stanley Cup home.

“Very special memories I’ll never forget,” Pat said. “Just how it all played out: the rough patch at the beginning, but we found a way to climb out of it as an individual and as a team. Being from St. Louis, you don’t want the reputation of ‘you sign this guy and he didn’t really produce.’

“It was a storybook year being from here, winning that first Stanley Cup. It’s a childhood dream.”

He got to play one year with his hometown team and be closer to Anthony, 11, who lives here with his mother, Heather. On that epic Cup day, both he and Anthony ate Cinnamon Toast Crunch out of hockey’s holy grail. Anthony has his own version of the Cup, too, having won a national hockey championship, coincidentally, in Tampa (Wesley Chapel).

They were on a bus together as they made several stops with the real Cup, from the roller-hockey rink to a buddy’s ranch outside of town. Anthony drank Gatorade out of his Cup, with Blues players like O’Reilly taking a swig, too. O’Reilly and other former Blues teammates can see Maroon having a similar type of impact in Tampa Bay and — who knows? — perhaps having Cup days of their own.

“There’s no panic in (Maroon’s game) as it is. But last year in the playoffs for (the Lightning), if they get into that situation again, Patty is going to be the guy that everyone is looking to for answers because he’s been through it before,” defenseman said. “They’re obviously a good team, but there’s still going to be ups and downs for a team, regardless of how good you are. Sometimes you need a guy like that, that’s been through what we’ve been through to put things in perspective for guys.”

Maroon doesn’t want to think too far ahead. He has really enjoyed his time in Tampa Bay so far, believing they have a “special” group. Anthony has already been down to visit once with a buddy, and Maroon took the boys to Disney World. Whether the Lightning’s season ends in a similar storybook fashion to the one with his hometown Blues remains to be seen.

But if it does, you can bet Maroon will be right in the middle of it.

“Every team I’ve been on has been amazing,” Maroon said. “I really have had a blessed career, been on so many great hockey teams. Every team I’ve been on has made the playoffs. I’ve never had a day in the NHL where I said, ‘Oh man, that was terrible.’

“I’ve played on some really good hockey teams. I’ve been blessed to play this long and hope I can continue my journey here.”