Dennis John Maruk (born November 17, 1955) is a Canadian former 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. Maruk is of Ukrainian descent.[1]

Dennis Maruk
Born (1955-11-17) November 17, 1955 (age 69)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight 165 lb (75 kg; 11 st 11 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for California Golden Seals
Cleveland Barons
Minnesota North Stars
Washington Capitals
National team  Canada
NHL draft 21st overall, 1975
California Golden Seals
WHA draft 65th overall, 1975
Cleveland Crusaders
Playing career 1975–1989

Career

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As a youth, Maruk played in the 1968 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Etobicoke.[2]

Maruk played junior "A" hockey in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for the London Knights before he was drafted in the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft by the California Golden Seals. While with the Seals, he became the first NHL rookie to score five shorthanded goals in a season.[3] 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 he was traded shortly afterwards to the Washington Capitals. During his time with the Capitals, he scored 50 goals in 1980–81 and 60 goals in 1981–82; his mark of 76 assists and 136 points in the 1981–82 season remain Capitals' records for a single-season.[4] Maruk was the first Capitals player to score 100 points in a season.[citation needed]

In 1982–83, Maruk was one of the players instrumental in leading the Capitals to their first playoff appearance. Despite this, he was traded back to the North Stars where he finished 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, although Charlie Simmer played later 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.

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1971–72 Markham Waxers MetJHL
1971–72 Toronto Marlboros OHA-Jr. 8 2 1 3 4
1972–73 London Knights OHA-Jr. 59 46 67 113 54
1973–74 London Knights OHA-Jr. 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

International

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Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1978 Canada WC 10 6 1 7 2
1979 Canada WC 7 1 1 2 2
1981 Canada WC 8 5 3 8 6
1983 Canada WC 10 4 3 7 4
Senior totals 35 16 8 24 14

References

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  1. ^ "Ukrainian Dreams - Oral History - Famous Ukrainian-Canadians". ukrainian-dreams.com. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  2. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  3. ^ Lane, Jon (April 8, 2014). "Top pick MacKinnon of Avalanche deserves Calder". NHL.com. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  4. ^ Ungar, Dave (September 21, 2013). "The 5 Washington Capitals Records That Will Be Most Difficult to Break". Bleacher Report. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
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