It?s about a team.
It?s about Derek King, who decided to uproot his wife, twins, 11-year-old son, three dogs, two lizards and a guinea pig and answer a friend?s call for help. It?s about Ben Scrivens, a bookworm goalie who once was considered to have such little promise that he paid to finance his own trade from one junior to team to another. It?s about Philippe Dupuis proving to himself that he?s not a failure.
The story of this year?s edition of the Toronto Marlies is about Mike Zigomanis? health concerns, Will Acton?s refusal to accept a life out of hockey and Jake Gardiner trying to play with a stick that isn?t his.
It?s about hard choices, melding together different hockey lives and the idea that the most important part of a person is often something you don?t know.
It?s about a boy named Dallas, hardened while being raised in ?hillbilly country? in the United States, who grew into a man haunted by the memory of a .22 rifle and the two dads who abandoned him. It?s about coach Eakins, who made the NHL the hard way as a player and is now the bench boss of a team eight wins away from a minor league championship.
That?s the sturdy frame upon which the Toronto Marlies rest.
