Lightning F Pat Maroon chirps ESPN while also revealing feelings on Brad Marchand!

Veteran Tampa Bay Lightning forward Pat Maroon is certainly living right at the moment. 

The last three NHL seasons have ended with his having raised the Stanley Cup, first with the St. Louis Blues in 2019 and then twice with the  Lightning in 2020 and 2021. Of course, he and the rest of his teammates have now become the first back-to-back champions to advance to Round 3 since the legendary New York Islanders teams of the early 80's. 

It was Maroon who tallied the game-winning goal in Game 4 against the Florida Panthers, in which the Bolts swept their in-state rival. They now await the winner of the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers, who are tied in their series at two games apiece. And during some well-deserved down time, Maroon joined The Pat McAfee Show to talk about the postseason.

Maroon stated his belief that it was an insult to the NHL that they weren't prominently featured on ESPN, who would sooner break down what LeBron James ate for breakfast than do any lengthy segments on hockey prior to the sport's return to the network this season. 

"I think it's huge, we needed it," Maroon said. "NBC did a good job, but for us, it was embarrassing when you turn on Sportscenter and all you see is football, NBA and baseball, hockey wasn't mentioned."

"You got people on there chirping hockey, and it was a slap in the face to us. People should know our stars in the game, because now we're seeing a player named Connor McDavid who will probably go down as one of the greatest players of all time," he said. "Wayne (Gretzky) obviously did his thing, but what you're seeing now in the playoffs is truly remarkable. The fact that he's not up there with LeBron James and Tom Brady...they're still not talking about him. It's crazy to me that you're seeing a kid making this game look so easy, and unfortunately it took us years to get on ESPN. I think TNT is doing an excellent job."

Of course, Maroon is known to get under the skin of opponents in order to gain the upper hand, but is there a player that he faces that he can't stand? 

"I think a lot of people hate me," he said to laughter. "You know, I guess hate is a strong word. (Brad) Marchand drives me f**king nuts...he's the best pest in the game, I give him credit. And he's one of the best players in the League doing it, too. He drives me a bit off the wall. But it's my job to kind of go around and be a pest, chirp guys, be exhausting. It's exhausting when you have someone chirping your bench the whole game, or you're in someone's ear the whole game." 

"I don't really hate anyone...me and Marchy go at it a lot, we have a love/hate relationship."