Stanley Cup champion
Will East grad Todd Marchant helps Anaheim Ducks win first NHL crown
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Playing against his hometown team on Dec. 8, 2005 at the HSBC Arena, Todd Marchant lifts the stick of Thomas Vanek of the Buffalo Sabres. The Ducks lost 3-2 in overtime. Photo by John Normile

Growing up, Todd Marchant played on hockey teams that had great success but never won the big game. But after helping the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history last week, Marchant can scratch winning a big-time championship from his things-to-do list.

"I won a few state championships (Amherst Major Bantam twice, Amherst Major Pee Wee "A" once) but we lost in the national championship every time," said the 1991 Williamsville East High School graduate by telephone on Monday.

"I also won an ECAC title at Clarkson (University). But I always wondered 'when is it going to be my turn to win a big one?' Obviously, this is the biggest."

"The feeling is unbelievable," said Marchant, whose parents live in Clarence. "At some points, you don't believe it actually happened. You go through an entire season and the playoffs year after year. Sometimes I think it's a mirage. You see this island off in the distance but you never seem to get there. You get close and all of a sudden it goes away. Fortunately for us, we were able to actually put our feet on it and hold that Cup."

Marchant, 33, said he had been waiting 14 years of pro hockey and 16 years of amateur hockey for his moment to hoist the Stanley Cup. When it was his turn, he froze.

"I'd planned on going for a big skate around the ice but when I got it, my legs went numb," said Marchant, who was playing in his eighth playoff series as a pro. "I stood still, lifted it over my head for a couple of times, and looked for the next person to hand it to.

"It is a tremendous feeling of accomplishment," he added. "It goes back to waking up at 5 a.m. and going to Clearfield (Recreation Center) to practice at 5:30 when you're 10 years old. Everything is brought together in one moment."

Beginnings of a star

Marchant always knew he was destined for the NHL.

Under Marchant's "future plans and aspirations" on his player profile for the 1990 Empire State Games Western Region scholastic men's hockey team, it read "Attend Division I college hockey, NHL." Marchant turned 17 that summer.

At six years old, Marchant starting playing Amherst Youth Hockey. Pete Schneider, who coached Marchant on the 1987 New York State champion Major Pee Wee "A" team, can remember him as a special player from the time he started playing Mite Major at 7. At 8, Marchant played on a team Schneider coached that only lost four times in 50 games. One of the teams Marchant played against had future NHL player Eric Lindros, who now plays for the Dallas Stars.

"Todd was always one of the top scorers on the team and averaged well over 100 points in every season while playing for Amherst," said Schneider.

"Todd was always a joy to watch and a pleasure to coach. As a player, he had amazing speed and was very unselfish. He would do whatever was necessary for the team to be successful. The desire he showed in the Stanley Cup playoffs was the same desire he exhibited even as a youngster. The bigger the challenge, the better he played."

Pat Rimar, an assistant coach on Marchant's 1989 national runner up Major Bantam team and head coach for the Western Region at the 1990 ESGs (Marchant played ESGs in '89 and '90, won gold medal in '90), agreed.

"Whenever there was a big game, he always showed up," said Rimar, who has coached hockey at every level except professional for 43 years. "He was the best player I've ever coached for that." Marchant also won a national high school championship with Team Buffalo in 1990. The same year, he played club hockey for Williamsville East.

During his senior year, he played for the Niagara Scenics, now Buffalo Lightning Junior 'A'. He also represented the United States at the 1993 World Junior Championships and the 1994 Winter Olympics.

The NHL

After two years at Clarkson University (1991-93), he was drafted by the New York Rangers in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft in the seventh round, 164th overall. In his first pro season, he bounced between the Rangers and their American Hockey League affiliate in Binghamton, and was traded to the Edmonton Oilers, where he called home for nine years.

His best season statistically was in 2002-03, scoring 20 goals and picking up 40 assists for 60 points, second on the team. That offseason, the Columbus Blue Jackets signed him as a free agent but for whatever reason, he wasn't the same player, scoring only nine goals and 25 assists in 77 games. Columbus put him on waivers on Nov. 17, 2005 and Anaheim signed him four days later.

Marchant excelled in his first year with the Ducks. In the postseason he led Anaheim with 10 assists and tied for the NHL lead with a plus-minus rating of plus-11.

This season, Marchant missed 26 games because of an abdominal strain and later, a torn groin which required surgery on April 6. He had eight goals and 15 assists during the regular season and three assists in the postseason.

"It was a difficult decision to make," said Marchant, who didn't return to action until Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against Detroit. "The doctors told me it would be a long shot to come back and play this season (torn groin takes at least six to eight weeks to heal, Marchant recovered in five weeks) but I started to get back into playing shape quickly. I believed it would be possible to come back."

While recovering, Marchant, to build team camaraderie heading into the Western Conference playoffs, had T-shirts made for the entire team that read "passion," a word he said teammate Teemu Selanne kept uttering.

After the Ducks defeated the Minnesota Wild, 4-1 in the Western Conference quarterfinals, Marchant said his teammates requested another T-shirt for the conference semifinals. By the time he Ducks had made the Stanley Cup finals, the T-shirt read "Destiny is heart, sacrifice, and passion."

"It really kind of took off," said Marchant. "You spend so much time together I figured it was something to do."

When Marchant returned from his injury, he said he was used wherever needed, whether it was playing left wing, right wing, center, or on the power play and penalty kill lines.

"Every game I was doing something different," said Marchant. "That was my role, to fill in wherever I was needed."

All of the hard work paid off for Anaheim, who defeated the Ottawa Senators in five games to win the Stanley Cup.

"We were a team," said Marchant. "You can't win this trophy with one or two guys. We needed everyone playing their role."

Parents make the trip

Family commitments stopped Todd's father, Peter, and mother, Susan from attending some of Todd's past hockey accomplishments (Todd is one of three brothers who with Scott and Terry played the sport) but there was no way the Marchants weren't attending the Stanley Cup finals.

Peter, who was an assistant coach on many of Todd's youth teams but never coached him, said he and his wife flew to Anaheim for Games 1 and 2, drove to Ottawa for Games 3 and 4, and while driving back from Game 4, set up flight arrangements to jump back on a plane for Anaheim for Game 5.

They even had made plans to attend Game 6, if necessary, because Peter Marchant said he and his wife "didn't want to be sitting at home watching it on television."

When Game 5 ended, the Marchants made their way from their 400-level seats to the Ana- heim locker room, where they met Todd.

"It was a very emotional meeting," said Peter Marchant. "I said to him, congratulations, 'you did it' and he said 'we did it'. That was really special because he was the first to recognize that it takes support from the family growing up to provide transportation and the financial support."

The Stanley Cup win was also big for Todd and his family, who has a wife, Caroline, two daughters, Lillian and Ashley, and a son, Timothy.

"They've had to make a lot of sacrifices for me," said Todd Marchant. "I'm on the road a lot and I don't get to see a lot of their hockey games and recitals so for them to be a part of it as well was awesome."

'It doesn't sink in'

The night after Anaheim had won the Stanley Cup was at Marchant's Anaheim home for the Amherst native to do a TV interview. On Sunday, Marchant was at a team party and the Cup was sitting across from him.

"Every time you see it, it doesn't sink in," said Marchant. "I could reach out and touch it. It doesn't seem real."

Marchant has no idea when he will have his day with it this summer but when it is his turn, plans on bringing it to Williamsville.

"I just found out that the names on the Cup will be there for 63 years so basically for the rest of my life, my name will be on it," said Marchant, who runs a hockey camp with his father at the Amherst Pepsi Center in July. "I'll always be a part of that. That's pretty special."

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com