Maruk biography

Whose record will never beat Ovechkin on December 2, Moscow time audio version: your browser does not support the Audio element. Dennis Maruruk knocked out the comments, playing his glasses, playing in Washington - now these numbers seem incredible for any player of the “capital”. The Horde of Professional Statistics with the line monitors every action of Alexander Ovechkin.

Given the uptake of the American sports tradition at all kinds of achievements, not only goals, but also throws, power, goals into the empty gates are considered-and all this in order to release the news a la “Ovechkin became the first player in the history of the NHL, who scored five times during the retrograde Mercury from November 17 to 20.” In America, they called the exact place of Ovi in ​​the history of hockey, however, there is such a record that Ovi will never beat - this is the achievement of Dennis Maruke.

At one time, it was Maruruk who became the first person in the history of Washington, who knocked out 50 goals, and the next season - at once this is a sniper achievement of a young Ovechkin at 22, which became one of his first records - but to furnish the result of his points. Although four different regularities of Ovechkin in the list of the best seasons of “capital” take places from the second to fifth, in his best regular hand he knocked out “only”, and now it is unlikely to be blown up to the career of Marouka well describes the name of the book that he was written: “The unforgettable story of a forgotten sniper that score 60 times.” The spelling of the preface was taken by one of the best forwards in the history of the NHL Marseille Dionn, and you can guess why: both attackers played almost the whole career in weak teams and did not differ in growth both - see the dirty and hard era of hockey, were not large guys, but it did not matter.

Almost two -meter Chris Pronger said that we could yell between his legs. He or Eric Lindros are German shepherds: large, strong, will bit you once, but will lag behind. Dennis and I - Pitbuli: if they bite, then do not lag behind. " Dennis Maruk photo: Wikimedia. However, there were six more children in the family of the future player, and all of them ran with clubs on the ice - at eight years, Maruk finally gave up and he quickly liked it.

I had a stormy disposition, and the coaches more than once reassured me to send me to the reserve, ”the forward writes. The transition to the youth level for Dennis also turned out to be easy: he instantly burst into the top of the youth league scorers. Once, the junior team of Maruka played against Washington, lost, and the future legend of the “capital” was noted by a hat-trick.

Despite the bombardry exploits, the striker did not tear up the set 18 - the managers considered him too small. However, a year later, Maruk was chosen immediately in the second round - this was done by the living short and unsuccessful life of California. In the hockey plan, Auckland was in a place rather indecent: over eight seasons of its existence, the team never exceeded 30 victories in the season and never won a series of playoffs.

However, even in such a team no one guaranteed anything to be a miniature newcomer, and he went to take advice from his friend who had already played in the NHL. It was Dave Khatchinson, who knocked out his games in the League for one and a half thousand penalties - and he advised Marouke to go to the power without tricks, cutting himself to the maximum, not to be shy of dirty receivers and try to chill everyone in a training camp.

The first NHL training camp was shocked by the striker: the situation was as relaxed as possible, California veterans came to prepare for a season from a kilo of excess weight, and after training, a joint trip to the bar was mandatory. The approach of a daring beginner against this background was different. Already in my first season, I tried to beat everything that moved, showed my character even on a banal throwing.

If this enraged people, well, this was the only way thanks to which I could create a space, ”writes Maruruk. It is logical that one of the former teammates later called Dennis the most selfish hockey player with whom he had to play: a fine in games is partially confirmed by the Games. However, this was the last season of California, which soon turned into “barons” from Cleveland. The life of the old team in a new place lasted even less - two years.

However, both seasons Maruke were the best scorer of this team, continuing to surprise the opponents with speed. However, the League allowed Cleveland to finish the season, having thrown off the world on the thread, which the hockey players were not very pleased: they understood that this team was non -viable. The first years of the existence of the "capital" were a fierce nightmare.

Over the first four seasons, they won 60 meetings in total, and the team was not enough at least some star that the audience would go to: in the era to large television transactions, the box office were a key factor in command incomes. The audience loved Maruka everywhere - for his fighting qualities, a sniper talent and the ability to score in the minority.However, for a long time and Maruk was not enough for the exit in the playoffs-although Washington drafted well and was able to attract Mike Gartner, who in the American capital will become one of the best snipers in history.

Due to the fact that Capitals did not go to the playoffs a year after year, Maruke went to the national team for the world championship four times-our press immediately began to celebrate the impudent and small striker. However, the level of talent in those teams was so high that Dennis played there in the fourth link - this did not prevent him from scraining two points against the USSR national team at the World Cup.

The beginning of X became the most effective era for the NHL - and Marouk with his style of the game only benefited. That era periodically gave birth to heroes for one or two season, but the outbreak of the Washington Center can hardly be called random. Despite the fact that in the company of Gretzky, Lemie, Esposito and other people with 60 or more goals per season he may look like Dmitry Kharatyan in the famous joke, this was not an accident.

Maruk notes the role of his partners, whose names can now be forgotten. On the left flank, one of the youngest captains of the NHL Ryan Walter, who played perfectly in defense and reduced the load on Maruka in his zone, and the newcomer Chris Valentine was released on the right, who instantly disappeared into the hockey missile. Perhaps this was exactly the case when two players won the game as much as possible with each other.

Maruk praised Valentine for reading the game and smart passes.

For example, I always asked the goalkeepers a lot of questions, I found out where they were looking when the opponent striker went to the position. I had a cool click, I could give the puck a lot of speed and thanks to this I took the goalkeepers by surprise more than once. I had a short stick, the puck rested close to me, like Johnny Godro. Thanks to this, I could throw from where the goalkeepers did not expect, ”Maruruk said in an interview with The Score.

Maruka card photo: Media-Mazon. True, even the presence of the fourth bombardant of the League did not help Washington go to the playoffs, even taking into account the fact that 16 teams from however got there, Maruk in their memoirs still imposed responsibility for such a result. That year, the match of the stars took place in Washington - of course, Maruke was chosen there and among other participants in the stellar weekend, he fell for lunch with Ronald Reagan.

At some point, Reagan decided to make a joke and announced that the United States was exchanged by Wayne Gretzi from Edmonton, but the country had to give him to Texas-we laughed out loud. At that moment, I poorly understood that I was sitting at the same table with the president of the United States. Years later, I realized that this is a good achievement for Dennis from Rexdale, ”said Maruruk later.

We recall the unattainable record of Gretzki: "I am damn sorry for the goalkeepers." As Gretzka set a record that would never beat the truth, the achievement of Marouke remains in many ways in the background. Firstly, almost all the attention of the press diverted Gretzki, which gave out an incredible season with glasses. Secondly, Washington, which still did not fall into the playoffs, was too unpopular: in the NHL attendance table the team was fifth from the end.

Mike Gartner later recalled that at a two-hour autograph session in a shopping center, ... 0 people approached him. Marouk did not help the superstar even his luxurious mustache, which looked extravagant even in that era of general estate. It is significant that even the magazine Sports Illustrated, which made up the rating of the best supra -lumbun vegetation, wrote the name of the striker with a typo - Marus.

But the time of the striker in Washington after that was short -lived. In the summer, the “capital” turned the exchange, which is still considered the key in the history of the team, which, because of its failures, was close to moving. In the exchange of Caps, they also gave the Walter-so Maruke was left without his main partner on the link and a man who would later be called the best hockey player with whom he had ever played.

The Washington coach Brian Murray believed that Maruke was playing the defense too badly, so he transferred the striker to the left flank of the attack and cut out the playing time. It is significant that Maruruk with 81 points still became the best team scorer, but earned “” in utility-and this is when playing in a team that finished the season with a positive difference of the goals and first got into the playoffs.

First of all, Murray, who, was defended, was unhappy, and because of this Maruka was again exchanged at Minnesota. The striker himself was very surprised - later he said that only a week before exchange he met with the head coach and general manager, who told him that in the new season they would again return to the usual position. In Minnesota, the position of the first center was already assigned to the Nile Broten, and Maruke remained on the second roles - however, he played for the first time in his career in the final of the conference.

Over the three full seasons in the new-old team, Maruk never made a mark of 60 goals and ended his career already at 33-several injuries of knees brought the striker out of the big hockey. At 43, the forward held several games in the lower WPHL league. As Maruruk recalled, the rivals tried to call him a “old man” and asked if he would lose several more teeth. However, the crown question “How many matches do you have in the NHL, son?

Of course, Maruke also monitors Washington: at one time Ovechkin called him an apology for breaking his sniper record. However, Dennis does not regret this: “Ovechkin once told me that he could not reach my points, but the records are set in order to beat them. Who knows? It's nice to look at the player who so often lights a red lamp as Ovechkin: I threw it quickly, but he does it even faster.

” Ovechkin’s most fresh of the records: despite his achievements, the main point of his career, Maruke believes that he was generally in the NHL. He regrets only one thing - that he played in the junior league, and did not go to receive an education in NCAA, where he could get a priceless life experience.