Mike Marson
{{short description|Canadian ice hockey player}}
{{Infobox ice hockey player
| name = {{PAGENAME}}
| image = Mike Marson.jpg
| caption =
| position = Left wing
| shoots = Left
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 9
| weight_lb = 200
| played_for = Washington Capitals
Los Angeles Kings
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1955|7|24|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
| draft = 19th overall
| draft_year = 1974
| draft_team = Washington Capitals
| career_start = 1974
| career_end = 1981
}}
Michael Robert Marson (born July 24, 1955) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played six seasons in the National Hockey League for the Washington Capitals and the Los Angeles Kings from 1974 to 1979. He was the second Black Canadian to play in the NHL.
Hockey career
=Amateur=
As a youth, Marson played in the 1968 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Wexford, Toronto.{{cite web|url=https://www.publicationsports.com/ressources/files/439/Joueurs_Pro.pdf|title=Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA|year=2018|website=Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament|access-date=2019-01-08|archive-date=2019-03-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306085544/https://www.publicationsports.com/ressources/files/439/Joueurs_Pro.pdf|url-status=dead}} During the 1973–74 OHA season, he was named a second team all-star, and led the Sudbury Wolves with 94 points at age 18.{{Cite web |title=Sudbury Wolves 1973-74 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com |url=https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0011271974.html |access-date=2022-08-09 |website=www.hockeydb.com}}
=Professional=
Marson was drafted as the first pick of the 2nd Round, 19th overall, by the Washington Capitals in the 1974 NHL Entry Draft.{{Cite web |title=NHL Records |url=https://records.nhl.com/draft/draft-picks?year=1974 |access-date=2022-08-09 |website=records.nhl.com}} He signed a five-year contract with the Capitals and would become the second Black Canadian to play in the NHL, following Willie O'Ree.{{cite web|last1=Brown|first1=Katie|title=Mike Marson honored by Capitals|url=https://www.nhl.com/news/mike-marson-second-black-player-in-nhl/c-279962020|website=NHL.com|accessdate=February 9, 2018|date=March 28, 2016}} He was available in the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft because of league's decision to allow drafting of underage players that year.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}
His first NHL game was also the first game in Washington Capitals franchise history played on October 9, 1974.{{Cite web |title=Caps History: Opening Night - Oct. 9, 1974 |url=https://www.nhl.com/capitals/news/caps-history-opening-night---oct-9-1974/c-286255174 |access-date=2022-08-09 |website=NHL.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Mike Marson 1974-75 Game Log |url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/m/marsomi01/gamelog/1975 |access-date=2022-08-09 |website=Hockey-Reference.com |language=en}} He recorded his best NHL season as a rookie when he scored 16 goals, added 12 assists for 28 points in 76 games.{{Cite web |title=Mike Marson Stats |url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/m/marsomi01.html |access-date=2022-08-09 |website=Hockey-Reference.com |language=en}}
Marson claims to have encountered discrimination early in his first season, and has recalled having the racial slurs "nigger" and "sambo" yelled at him during his first game at Maple Leaf Gardens against the Toronto Maple Leafs.{{cite news|title=Black hockey players fight racism in NHL|url=https://archive.org/details/thevarsity107/page/n475|publisher=The Varsity|accessdate=November 22, 2021|date=December 1, 1986}}
His teammates expressed how the slurs and taunts adversely impacted Marson: "There were racial slurs that were fired and he'd be quick [to react]. He had a short fuse. The next thing you knew, he'd be involved in something. It was hard for him to work on his game. And he could skate. He was one of the best skaters in the league, but he spent so much energy having to defend himself," said teammate Ron Lalonde.{{Cite web |title=Against the Odds: Remembering Mike Marson's Career with the Caps |url=https://www.nhl.com/capitals/news/against-the-odds-remembering-mike-marsons-career-with-the-caps/c-305201080 |access-date=2022-08-09 |website=NHL.com |language=en-US}}
He also was the target of numerous death threats.
Marson struggled with weight problems and alcoholism during his career.
In all, Marson played 196 games in the NHL (193 with Washington and three with Los Angeles). He totaled 48 points on 24 goals and 24 assists and amassed 233 penalty minutes.
During his career in the American Hockey League, Marson played for the Baltimore Clippers, Springfield Indians, Hershey Bears, Philadelphia Firebirds, and Binghamton Dusters.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/m/marsomi01.html|title=Mike Marson Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Salary, Title|website=Hockey-Reference.com}}
Personal life
Marson attended classes at the University of Maryland during his playing days in Washington.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}
At age 17, while playing junior hockey in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, he suffered the loss of his mother who died unexpectedly of a brain aneurysm. Nearly four years later, he was dealt another personal tragedy when his younger brother passed suddenly at the age of 20. {{Cite web |title=Mike Marson on challenges he faced as NHL's second black player - Sportsnet.ca |url=https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/mike-marson-challenges-nhls-second-black-player/ |access-date=2022-08-09 |website=www.sportsnet.ca}}
After his hockey playing career ended in 1980 he studied Martial arts. Marson became a seventh degree black belt in the Japanese style of Shotokan, attaining the status of Master-Shihan.{{cite web|last1=Amato|first1=Michael|title=BACKCHECKING: MIKE MARSON|url=http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/article/backchecking-mike-marson|website=thehockeynews.com|accessdate=February 9, 2018|date=March 27, 2017}} Marson has developed an off-ice martial arts training program for hockey players designed to improve timing, focus and confidence. Former NHL player Rick Nash was a student of the program.
Career statistics
=Regular season and playoffs=
| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em" | ||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! colspan="5"|Regular season ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! colspan="5"|Playoffs | ||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Season ! Team ! League ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM | ||||||||
| 1971–72
| Chatham Junior Maroons | SOHL | — | — | — | — | —
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1972–73 | OHA | 57 | 12 | 21 | 33 | 117
| 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 1973–74
| Sudbury Wolves | OHA | 69 | 35 | 59 | 94 | 146
| 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1974–75 | NHL | 76 | 16 | 12 | 28 | 59
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1975–76
| Washington Capitals | NHL | 57 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 50
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1975–76 | AHL | 12 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 16
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1976–77
| Washington Capitals | NHL | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1976–77 | AHL | 66 | 15 | 17 | 32 | 81
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1977–78
| Washington Capitals | NHL | 46 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 101
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1977–78 | AHL | 20 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 35
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1978–79
| Washington Capitals | NHL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1978–79 | AHL | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 19
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1978–79
| AHL | 68 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 132
| 10 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 20 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1979–80 | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1979–80 | Binghamton Dusters | AHL | 58 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 85
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | AHL totals ! 230 !! 43 !! 44 !! 87 !! 368 ! 10 !! 4 !! 3 !! 7 !! 20 | ||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | NHL totals ! 196 !! 24 !! 24 !! 48 !! 233 ! — !! — !! — !! — !! — |
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{icehockeystats}}
- [http://www.hockeydraftcentral.com/1974/74019.html Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com]
- [http://www.shulgan.com/clips/Toro_05Nov_fightschool.pdf Hockey Fight School]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marson, Mike}}
Category:Baltimore Clippers players
Category:Binghamton Dusters players
Category:Black Canadian ice hockey players
Category:Black Canadian sportsmen
Category:Canadian ice hockey left wingers
Category:Canadian male karateka
Category:Hershey Bears players
Category:Ice hockey people from Scarborough, Ontario
Category:Los Angeles Kings players
Category:Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States
Category:Philadelphia Firebirds (AHL) players
Category:Springfield Indians players
Category:Sudbury Wolves players
Category:Washington Capitals draft picks