Early life of a Stanley Cup champion By Sara Thomas

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Image by The Athletic 


Holding up the most beloved trophy in the history of professional sports is something that not everyone gets to experience in their lifetime. Having your name engraved along the 5 rings with 2,300 other names, is a substantial accomplishment in itself. That is what it is like to hold the Stanley Cup above your head.

Patrick Maroon was able to live his dream twice, as he won back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships, one of them, playing for his favorite team he grew up watching. 

Maroon was born on April 23, 1988 from St. Louis, Missouri. Watching the St. Louis Blues on television was one of his favorite things to do as a young kid. 

He started his hockey career at a young age by playing roller hockey. From that moment on, Pat decided that he wanted to pursue a career in ice hockey, and hopefully one day, become a professional hockey player. 

By the time that Pat was in highschool, he played on 7 club teams before he got recruited to play for the Philadelphia Rockets, the minor league team for the Philadelphia Flyers. 

Michele Kesack, the cousin of Pat Maroon said, “You have to support your kids dream”, when asked if his family and friends supported him in becoming a professional hockey player. He was the “hometown hero” after helping his team clinch the series win against the Boston Bruins, bringing home the Stanley Cup. Winning his first cup with his favorite team growing up was “very exciting”, said Kesack. 

Playing hockey in the midst of the Coronavirus Pandemic, was a tremendous challenge for Maroon. Being isolated from friends and family for 2 months was one of the hardest things he has done. Him seeing only his team for that amount of time, allowed him to develop stronger relationships with his teammates and coaches. By those relationships being developed, Patrick and the Tampa Bay Lightning were able to bring home the Stanley Cup.

Now that playoffs are officially over, Patrick is able to go home to his fiance and his 12 year old son Anthony, as a two-time Stanley Cup Champion. 

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 2, 2020 at 8:42 AM

    This is a great article and very interesting story. This is much different from the other articles and I enjoyed reading it.

    ReplyDelete

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