Pittsburgh (93.7 The Fan) - Penguins defenseman John Marino surely won't forget his rookie season, whever it ends.
After an eye-opening training camp, Marino quickly established himself as a regular on the Penguins blue line and as one of the NHL's top first-year players. His season was interrupted in early February when he suffered facial bone fractures, an injury that sidelined him for nearly a month. His return to the lineup lasted five games before the season was put on pause. It means he's played five games in 75 days.
"It's not ideal, but you take it day-by-day," Marino said. "It's tough sitting out whether you're injured or you're not playing or whatever it might be. You just take it one step at a time, do what you can and take all the positives you can out of it."
Marino is well-aware of what he and his teammates are missing.
"I know during this time it's around playoff time, and, obviously, I'd be really excited to partake in that," Marino said. "It would be my first year (in the playoffs), and it would be really exciting, especially for the fans and everyone. Hopefully, we can get back playing pretty soon."
When Marino returned from the injury he wore a protective face mask, something he's ready to discard.
"Obviously, this time has given me a lot of time to heal and recover," Marino said. "If we start playoing again soon, I don't think I'll have to wear the full face mask, so I can take advantage of that. At least it gave me some time to heal up."
The Massachusetts native is staying with some family members in Hilton Head Island, SC trying to keep busy. He said he's catching up on television shows and playing board games. If the Penguins don't get to play again this season, Marino will be satisfied from a personal standpoint.
"Overall, I think it went pretty well," Marino said. "It's still a learning process. Each game is still a learning process, but I thought it went pretty well. Obviously, having a good team helped out a lot, too"
In 56 games, Marino scored six goals to go with 20 assists.