Dennis Maruk
| Dennis Maruk | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
November 17, 1955 Toronto, ON, CAN | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | ||
| Weight | 165 lb (75 kg; 11 st 11 lb) | ||
| Position | Centre | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
Lake Charles Ice Pirates (WPHL) Kalamazoo Wings (IHL) Minnesota North Stars (NHL) Washington Capitals (NHL) Cleveland Barons (NHL) California Golden Seals (NHL) | ||
| National team |
 Canada | ||
| NHL Draft |
21st overall, 1975 California Golden Seals | ||
| WHA Draft |
65th overall, 1975 Cleveland Crusaders | ||
| Playing career | 1975–1989 | ||
Dennis John Maruk (born November 17, 1955) is a retired Ukrainian-Canadian[1] professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1975 to 1989, scoring a career high 60 goals for the Washington Capitals in 1981–82.
Career
Maruk played junior "A" hockey in the Ontario Hockey League for the London Knights before he was drafted in 1975 by the California Golden Seals. While with the Seals, he became the first NHL rookie to score five shorthanded goals in a season. Maruk followed the franchise when it relocated to Cleveland to become the Cleveland Barons a year later.
Maruk's rights were later obtained by the Minnesota North Stars after the Barons merged with them in 1978, but was traded shortly afterwards to the Washington Capitals. During his time with the Capitals, he scored 50 goals in 1980-1981 and 60 goals in 1981-1982; his mark of 76 assists and 136 points in the 1982 season remain Capitals' records for a single-season. Maruk was the first Capitals player to score 100 points in a season.
In 1982-1983, Maruk was one of the players instrumental in leading the Capitals to their first playoff appearance. Despite this, he was traded back to the Minnesota North Stars where he would finish his career. At the time of his retirement in 1989, he was the last active NHL player to have played for the Seals/Barons franchise, though Charlie Simmer played longer than him in minor leagues. Maruk was also the last Minnesota North Stars player to wear the number 9 prior to Mike Modano.
In 888 NHL games, he scored 356 goals and had 522 assists.
In Popular Culture
Maruk was discussed by a Soviet Agent during a conversation about ticket scalping in episode 16 of the FX Network television program The Americans, which takes place in the 1980s. The actual Russian dialogue referred to him as able to do "such (amazing) tricks", while the English subtitles translated it as a "wily" player.[2]
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1971–72 | Toronto Marlboros | OHA | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972–73 | London Knights | OHA | 59 | 46 | 67 | 113 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1973–74 | London Knights | OHA | 67 | 47 | 65 | 112 | 61 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1974–75 | London Knights | OMJHL | 65 | 66 | 79 | 145 | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1975–76 | California Golden Seals | NHL | 80 | 30 | 32 | 62 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1976–77 | Cleveland Barons | NHL | 80 | 28 | 50 | 78 | 68 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1977–78 | Cleveland Barons | NHL | 76 | 36 | 35 | 71 | 50 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1978–79 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1978–79 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 76 | 31 | 59 | 90 | 71 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1979–80 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 27 | 10 | 17 | 27 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1980–81 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 50 | 47 | 97 | 87 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1981–82 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 60 | 76 | 136 | 128 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982–83 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 31 | 50 | 81 | 71 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 1983–84 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 71 | 17 | 43 | 60 | 42 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 8 | ||
| 1984–85 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 71 | 19 | 41 | 60 | 56 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 12 | ||
| 1985–86 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 70 | 21 | 37 | 58 | 67 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 4 | ||
| 1986–87 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 67 | 16 | 30 | 46 | 52 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987–88 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988–89 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988–89 | Kalamazoo Wings | IHL | 5 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Lake Charles Ice Pirates | WPHL | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| NHL totals | 888 | 356 | 522 | 878 | 761 | 34 | 14 | 22 | 36 | 26 | ||||