OLDS — After a handful of guys left or were traded, the Olds Grizzlys now have a player who says he’s excited to be in Olds.
The Olds Grizzlys acquired 19-year-old forward Johnny Maruna from the Grande Prairie Storm for future considerations.
Maruna, from Cleveland, Ohio, obtained one assist in 15 games with the Storm. He stands 5’10” and weighs about 185 pounds.
“(He) skates well, (has a) pretty heavy shot. We’re going to use him on the powerplay and that,” head coach Brad Tobin said.
“We’ve obviously lost a few guys the last couple of days so the opportunity’s going to be there for him to step in and be one of the big contributors for us.”
Maruna grew up playing centre, but played left wing most of his time in Grande Prairie, along with a few shifts at centre.
“I can do either one,” he said during an interview with the Albertan.
Maruna was asked if there are advantages to playing left wing or centre.
“I would say maybe (as a) centre, I could gain more speed under the puck, but also you’ve got to play a little bit more defence, more defensively responsible, so I don’t mind wing,” he said.
Maruna said he’s pleased to be in Olds.
“I mean just a new opportunity. It’s far from home, so I want to play as much hockey as I can and I think that’s the opportunity I’ll be given here, so I’m ready to take advantage of it and help the team out as much as I can,” he said.
Maruna was asked if he saw a chance to play a bigger role in Olds because the team has been struggling so much.
“Ah, no, I wouldn’t say that,” he said.
“Just I think maybe in GP I didn’t have as much of a role as I can have here. That’s what I’ve heard from the GP coaches, so I’m just excited for the new opportunity.”
Maruna was asked how Olds and Grande Prairie compare to his home town.
He said everything’s much more spread out in Grande Prairie than in Cleveland.
“(It’s) obviously a little bit more colder, a lot of snow,” Maruna said.
“I like it here,” he said. “Olds is much more like my town back home.
“I would say just not as spread out. GP was very spread out, very flat. And I think back home in Cleveland it’s a little bit closer together.”
He’s pleased to still be in hockey-mad Canada.
“Coming from Cleveland, it’s not the biggest hockey, but everyone who’s there is very passionate about it and it’s growing, for sure. Coming here, where it’s the number 1 thing, I’m very excited.”
As an American, Maruna was asked for his reaction to President-elect Donald Trump’s suggestion that Canada ought to become America’s 51st state and whether he got kidded about that in GP.
“Yeah, everyone was saying stuff about that, and about (Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau resigning,” Maruna said.
“I don’t know, I stay away,” he added.
“I like to know what’s going on, but I don’t really have a side. I think it’s not true, I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
