Leafs Polak and Marincin aren’t two wild and crazy defencemen
On the entertainment stage, Maple Leafs defence partners Roman Polak and Martin Marincin are no threat to the longevity of the Festrunk Brothers.
From the early Saturday Night Live skits, the manic Festrunks emigrated from the now-parted Czechoslovakia and were on the make in America. Polak (a Czech) and Marincin (a Slovak) are far from being two wild and crazy guys, in fact coach Mike Babcock is trying them in tandem at training camp because they do the drudgery of stay-at-home defencemen.
Like the Festrunks, they’ve debuted in the third week of September (almost 40 years later), but it remains to be seen if Babcock wants them as a unit as more Leafs cuts loom. Polak is a lock for opening night, with a strong game Monday against the Ottawa Senators, clearing the crease, cruising for hits and getting kicked out for a late-game scrap with Dave Dziurzynski. It was initiated to protect smaller teammate Connor Brown.
The overall performance was exactly what the Leafs wanted to see after Polak’s first season in Toronto was cut short by a hernia operation.
Marincin, however, is a man of mystery. After two half-seasons up with the Edmonton Oilers, a club that should have been able to utilize his 6-foot-4 size to balance its offensive game, there was some kind of disconnect. In an under-publicized deal around the NHL draft, Toronto acquired him for Marlies forward Brad Ross.
Marincin, a second-round pick of the Oilers in 2010, had a couple of tentative moments on Monday, but wound up playing more than 17 minutes, a bit longer than the ejected Polak. Club officials said Babcock gave the June transaction his stamp of approval, likely seeing some of Marincin’s ability in the Western Conference while in Detroit.
“I just thought he got better as the game went on last night,” Babcock said. “He’s a big guy with skill and can skate. He’s got to get more involved in the game and be more confident, just like a lot of players. They’re searching for confidence all the time. It’s a hard league that way. He’s got to find his game.”
That will come either as a depth defenceman with the Leafs, or if he clears waivers and starts with the AHL Marlies. He’s on a $700,000 US deal, coming up on restricted free agency.
“I feel great, now that we’ve started playing games and we won,” said Marincin, who assisted on a late Stu Percy power-play goal. “We go to the next day and we’ll see.
“I think (the trade) was great for me; new start, new team, new coach. I really like it, I’m learning a lot from this coach.
“(Polak) is a pretty good player. He’s strong and we play just simple hockey.”
When it comes to communication, they’ve also worked out a system. Marincin knows enough Czech and Polak can counter in Slovak, but on the ice, it’s basic English only.
“You just need a couple of words,” said Polak, who developed the gift of North American gab in his eight years with St. Louis. “We don’t want to mess it up out there or misunderstand something with the other guys. Just keep it simple.
“I don’t think I’ve ever played with a (blue line partner) who speaks the same language. But we understand each other.”
The 29-year-old Polak joked that Marincin is “a young guy and doesn’t know much”, though agrees they could be effective the more they interact. But Polak has big picture concerns right now, getting his timing and conditioning back to where it was. He was able to play 21 minutes a night for the Leafs if need be before his surgery.
“It’s always good to have the first game under your belt,’ said Polak, who could be back, with or without Marincin, for Friday’s home game against Buffalo. “Now I have to keep going, focus on the next games.”
Polak isn’t known as a fighter. But few National Hockey Leaguers are going to win an outright wrestling match with the 235-pounder, as the taller Dziurzynski found out Monday.
“I was just helping out my teammate,” Polak said. “I thought it was a dirty hit (on Brown). I watched it on the video later and it wasn’t that dirty. But Brownie kind of put himself in that situation. He has to learn to not do that anymore and be quicker with the puck, protect himself a little more when you see the guy coming. Put your stick there or do something.
“I just turned and looked at the guy and he knew he did something bad. That’s why we dropped the gloves.”
KESSEL TRADE RETURNS MAKING EARLY IMPACT
Let the record show that the first goal scored by players involved in the summer trade for Phil Kessel was not by Phil Kessel.
Nick Spaling did it Monday, the game winner against Ottawa, with Kessel not yet appearing in an exhibition game for Pittsburgh. A two-way centre, Spaling will likely lag far behind Kessel when the Penguins get rolling. But what goals Spaling does manage, and new Leafs Kasperi Kapanen and defenceman Scott Harrington for that matter, will likely be products of the system Mike Babcock is implementing now.
“We’re trying to focus on trusting our teammates and each other,” said Spaling after Babcock went heavy on positional drills during Tuesday for players not in the Montreal game. “It’s the details and everyone’s on the same page.”
Spaling had 27 points in 82 games last year in Pittsburgh, yet his minus-2 would have put him among Leafs leaders in that area had the Kitchener area native played here. So he should be a good resource for Babcock this season. In Monday’s 4-1 decision over the Sens, he had Toronto’s only even-strength goal.
“It’s just pre-season, guys are still finding their legs and their game speed,” Spaling said. “But we had everyone playing together, which is nice to see so early in camp. There are different guys in the lineup, but we’re gelling and I think that speaks to what is being preached at camp.
“Mike’s a respected coach with a proven record. The good thing here is that guys are buying in.”
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