Marincin fits in on Oilers defence
Rookie excited by selection to Slovakia’s Olympic roster
Martin Marincin will never be in Zdeno Chara’s weight division, but at least he’s in the same league as his Slovakian countryman, not to mention shockingly finding himself on the same Olympic hockey team.
Life is good for the Edmonton Oilers defenceman, even if his team’s record is bad.
The six- foot- four , 188pound blue-liner played 15 seconds short of 19 minutes against the powerhouse St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night, the most ice time he’s had in eight NHL games.
He’s averaging more than 15 minutes while learning on the fly with games against four playoff teams (Tampa Bay Lightning, St. Louis, Pittsburgh Penguins and the Chicago Blackhawks) on the most recent playbill.
It’s no place for a nervous person, but Marincin has been a breath of fresh air during a choking-on-exhaust season for the Oilers, who have won only 14 of 46 games.
On the whole, he hasn’t looked out-of-place while injuries have sidelined Corey Potter (groin) and Philip Larsen (illness).
When they’re healthy, Marincin may go back to Oklahoma City in the American Hockey League because he doesn’t have to clear waivers, but he’s shown the Oilers something. He doesn’t have any points yet, but he’s plus-two, which is pretty rare stuff on a team solidly minus, even if it’s a small sampling of games.
It was gobsmacking stuff for Marincin to get the call to play for Slovakia, the shocking fourth-place finishers at Vancouver in 2010, even if he appears to be the No. 7 or No. 8 defenceman.
There are four regular NHLers — Chara, the injured Lubomir Visnovsky, Andrej Sekera and Andrej Meszaros — plus Ivan Baranka, the one-time New York Rangers’ second-round draft pick who’s playing for Omsk in the Kontinental Hockey League, and Michal Sersen, a former Penguins’ fifth-round puck-mover who is also in the KHL.
If Marincin had been in the minors, he probably wouldn’t be going to Sochi, Russia, next month. But now he is and he’s on a team with his hero, the Boston Bruins’ captain Chara, who everybody back home looks up to and not just because he’s sixfoot-nine.
Chara played junior with the Prince George Cougars, often looking clumsy as he tried to grow into his huge frame. Marincin played for the Cougars 14 years later.
“I’m young, maybe the youngest player there. ... I can learn from the older players like Chara (and ex-Oiler Visnovsky),” said Marincin, who will turn 22 at Sochi.
“I have never played with Chara ... first time for me. But it’s the Olympics, all the great players will be there.
“I really want to talk to Chara. I hope he can show me something. He’s got lots of information. He’s the best defenceman in the NHL.”
There might be some debate with fans of Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty and Ryan Suter, but Chara is in everybody’s top five.
“Would I like to be like him? For sure. Everybody would, but I’m not big and tough,” Marincin said. “I like to play with the puck.”
The Olympics may be a daunting task for this string- bean, but he wasn’t exposed against the Blues and handled himself capably against Tampa two nights earlier.
“He’s getting much more comfortable,” said Oilers coach Dallas Eakins. “He’s continuing to grow on the job.
“Where we are with our injuries on the back end, he’s come in and earned his minutes, for sure.
“I don’t know if people understand how hard it is for a young defenceman to come into the situation we’re in (being in 29th place). He’s played well. We like where he’s going.”
Eakins sees a young player past the crawling stage as an NHLer, but not running with the opportunity quite yet. Since he was drafted in the second round in 2010, people have been saying he absolutely has to get some meat on his bones — “I am eating a lot, I really am. This summer I got another seven pounds,” he said — but he’s still lean cuisine when it comes to work along the boards.
“He has to get stronger. You see him in there. He’s not a Zdeno Chara in terms of strength and size yet, but we’re hoping he gets there and usually they do,” said Eakins.
If he’s still on the team on Feb. 1, Marincin can introduce himself to Chara, too, when the Oilers are at Boston.