from Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times,

Maroon now is playing for his third straight Stanley Cup, and everyone around him says it’s no coincidence that he has such bragging rights. Maroon is a role player, doing the blue-collar work on the Lightning’s fourth line. But If there are certain qualities that make a winning player — like a positive mentality and a reputation for being a hard worker and a good teammate — Maroon possesses those.

“I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I try to do the best I can to keep the guys motivated, keep them light, keep them laughing in the room,” Maroon said. “Just knowing our structure, our system and what works and what does not work so I try to just remind the guys as much as I can. I try to be a good leader. It’s been fun to watch our team grow the last two years and the way we’ve changed our game and the way we’ve competed. We know how we’re supposed to win and how we’re not supposed to win.”

Maroon gets a lot of attention for providing physicality. He is the team’s enforcer and doesn’t shy away from confrontations. He can be an agitator at times, but he’s always there to defend a teammate. And the grit Maroon provides is something the Lightning needed to win last year’s Stanley Cup.

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