University of Minnesota Athletics
Five Minutes with Patti Marshall
2/14/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS -- Sophomore defense Patti Marshall caught up with the Voice of Gopher Women's Hockey Dan Hamann before the Gophers' last game, a 5-2 win over St. Cloud State. Marshall discusses the team's young defensive corps, what makes a good defender, and more.
Listen to Patti Marshall's interview with Dan Hamann.
Dan Hamann: Today my guest is Patti Marshall, a sophomore defender out of Thief River Falls, Minnesota. In yesterday's game, Patti was a plus one, three blocks, and so far for the season, Patti is a plus eight. All in all, a good year for you so far as a blue-liner. A lot of young players, is there any difficulty with having mostly young players on that blue line with the exception of upperclassman Sydney Baldwin?
Patti Marshall: No, coming in we have two freshmen who are playing big minutes, and they're doing a great job. They fill their roles great. Syd is being a great leader to them. She has really taken them under her wing.
DH: The best defenders are the ones you never hear about. Just like umpires or referees, the best ones usually go unnoticed. Do you find that to be true?
PM: Yeah, definitely. For instance, my partner Brownie, she's doing a great job this year. I mean, she's not a flashy D who's always scoring goals, but she does her job perfectly.
DH: You're kind of a defensive defender, as I think some would call it. Some people compare you to former Gopher, Lee Stecklein. Now, you didn't get a chance to play with Lee long but I'm sure as you were going through the recruiting process, you had a chance to watch her play. Is there anything you noticed about the way she played her game that you would like to model yourself after?
PM: Yeah, Lee, she's incredible. She's a very stay-at-home D, she's very poised, and she's very under control at all times. And I think you can tell when she's on the ice, that her job is to stop the puck from going in the net. She's not worried about getting a point out there, and it's very noticeable as a defense so I really admire that about her.
DH: What quality is needed to make a good defensive defenseman? In your opinion, what's the best trait to have?
PM: I think it's composure. You can't panic, you're one of the last people back on the ice, so just keeping calm and seeing everything in front of you. Just don't throw the puck away.
DH: How about a game like yesterday [Minnesota's 3-3 overtime tie with St. Cloud State] when things got kind of hectic down the stretch. How much do you take a game like that to heart?
PM: I mean, yeah, yesterday didn't really turn out the way we wanted it to. It sucks to lose, it's never fun. Towards the end, you could tell that everyone on the bench was getting a little panicky, but you just have to remember to stay calm during that.
DH: I thought the team looked pretty resilient in the overtime. There were a couple of good scoring chances, unfortunately, a few weren't on net and then Emma Polusny made a few good saves as well. What did you see out there that created some of those odd-man rushes in overtime?
PM: Honestly, I think that was a glimpse of what our team can be like. We dominated that overtime, we had a lot of odd-man rushes. I think that if we played the full sixty minutes of every game like that, then no one would beat us.
DH: It really does go to show, as much as it is a cliche, that it is a sixty-minute game. You let your guard down for as little as sixty seconds and then boom. A 3-1 lead is now a 3-3 tie.
PM: Yeah, I think that's what kind-of hurt the most. We played unbelievable in the second and most of the third and then in those last three minutes we just let our guard down and it really bit us.
DH: As you look back as you were growing up, is there a player, either professional or otherwise, that you really modeled your game after?
PM: I don't know if I modeled my game after them so much, but a person that I really looked up to was Gigi Marvin. Growing up north, her town was only an hour away and I would go to all of her camps. I remember watching her on tv in the Olympics and I always thought it was really cool that a small town up-north girl could do that.
DH: What's it going to be like watching her on tv, I think this is her third or fourth Olympic cycle. She seems to be an ageless wonder, just as good as she was a decade ago.
PM: Yeah, I'm super excited. I was at camp with her, I don't know, a year or so ago, and I just remember watching her on the ice. In my opinion, the smartest person out there, she has eyes in the back of her head.
DH: I tend to be amazed by her physical awe, she was out there on the ice, she was physically dominate, bigger, faster, stronger than any other player out there. Is that what you remember too?
PM: Yeah, she's really good. I'm really happy for her and I'm excited to see her in the Olympics again this year.
DH: Growing up, was there something that made you want to be a defenseman or was it out of necessity? I don't think most people want to be a defenseman, everybody wants to be a goal scorer, the hero. But, defensemen are the unheralded heros of this game.
PM: Actually, I was never a kid that wanted to be a goal scorer. My coach threw me in at D, and I've stuck there ever since. It seemed to work out okay, I guess.
DH: Did you have any inkling at all of wanting to be a forward? Or did they stick you at forward just to see what it would be like?
PM: No, never. I mean, a couple of times they would throw me in at forward for close games, but I have always been a stay-at-home D.
DH: Have you been surprised at the amount of responsibility thrown at you this year as it's your second year? You're the mainstay at one of the key power plays and a very good penalty killer as well. I mean, that's a lot of responsibility to put on a young player.
PM: Yeah, it does end up being a lot of responsibility. But, coming back as a sophomore, already having a year under my belt really helps a lot. We do have a small D-corps this year but, I think Sydney Baldwin has done a good job of keeping everyone intact and keeping us five really together.
DH: Assistant coach Joel Johnson is really responsible for the defense. What have you learned in particular, or perhaps you can pick one or two key things that he has taught you that has become very impactful for you as a player?
PM: Yeah, he's an incredible coach. I am so thankful that he is on the coaching staff. Some of the main things that stand out are, he always says that hockey is what you do and not who you are and sometimes you get so caught up in hockey and forget why you're here, why you play hockey. Another thing is confidence. You're on this team for a reason and you need to know that so play the best of your abilities.
DH: This season has gone by so fast and there's still some work to be done, obviously, but, when you get to that off season part, how do you decompress?
PM: Honestly, I just need to take a couple weeks off of skating, I can't be anywhere near the rink. Just hoping my body can regenerate a little bit before I start up again.
###
