The Chicago Blackhawks have their final home game of the season on Saturday night. They will take on the Central Division-leading Winnipeg Jets to close things out for the year. The Jets, who have the inside track on the NHL's Presidents' Trophy, are always a tough challenge.
This is more than just the last home game for the Blackhawks. It will be the final game in the wonderful career of Patrick Maroon.
Maroon will skate in his 848th career game and 68th with the Blackhawks. He also spent time with the Anaheim Ducks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild, New Jersey Devils, and Boston Bruins.
The man known as "The Big Rig" made an impact on all of those teams in different ways. For Chicago, it was about being a great leader for a group of young kids.
During the 2024-25 season, Maroon was wonderful for everyone. There are countless ways he helped the less experienced players, but one memory will always stick out.
That is when he took Lukas Reichel with him to St. Louis to be with his family for the holidays, when Reichel had nowhere else to go. Gestures like that are what made Maroon as special a person off the ice as he was on the ice.
Maroon was named as the Blackhawks' nominee for the Masterton Trophy for his work this year. This award is presented annually to the player who most demonstrates perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.
Throughout his NHL career, Maroon was a scrappy fighter who made the bottom-six forward group of his team better. He also scored over 100 goals and had over 300 points. This included a 27-goal season when he was a member of the Oilers in 2016-17.
When Maroon was with his hometown St. Louis Blues, he scored an overtime winning goal in game seven of the second round against the Dallas Stars. Eventually, they won the Stanley Cup.
Maroon followed that up by winning the Stanley Cup in each of the next two years to make it three in a row. These came as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning as they went back-to-back.
Maroon won't travel with the Blackhawks as they close out the year in Montreal and Ottawa. He is going to end his career right where he made his NHL debut, the United Center. Where it started as a member of the Anaheim Ducks, it will end as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Chicago is sure to send Maroon out feeling good about himself. He's been a good warrior at every stop, which made him a fan favorite in just about every city he's played.
From being drafted in the 2007 NHL Draft to not being a full-time NHL player until the 2013-14 season, tons of AHL time in between, and eventually becoming a three-time Stanley Cup champion, there is no doubting Maroon's love for the game. He is proof that a little bit of dedication and hard work can get you to where you want to go.
This won't be the last we see of Maroon in the coming years. Whether it is in media or as a part of an organization in hockey ops, he will be around. For now, he will be celebrated in his final game of a memorable career.
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