Tony Marinaro spoke about Ivan Demidov on a recent episode of The Sick Podcast.
On the Tuesday night edition of The Sick Podcast, Tony Marinaro and guest Jimmy Murphy discussed a number of topics, but one of them particularly stood out. Last weekend, Marinaro attended a hockey event at Hockey Etcetera and spent time with Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kristopher Letang.
As the Montreal native was taking part in a box break with the Card Chaser staff, he mentioned that Pavel Datsyuk is one of the best players he has ever faced and then proceeded to say that Montreal Canadiens’ now-sophomore winger Ivan Demidov’s creativity and unpredictability reminded him of the Magic Man. At which point Marinaro asked Letang just how great he believed Demidov could be, and the39-year-old veteran replied:
I told my son, because we talk about this stuff, I said give it 3 years, and I think he’s going to be close to the top 5 in the league. I mean, assuming that he stays healthy and has good development and everything, that’s where I see him.
That’s high praise indeed from a player who's spent 20 years in the NHL and played with some of the best players of his era. Letang has teamed up with great players over the years, playing alongside Sidney Crosby, Evgeny Malkin, and Marc-Andre Fleury, to name a few, and against the likes of Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon. Game recognizes game, as they say, and it looks like Demidov has made quite an impression on the veteran defenseman.
In three games against the Pens so far, Demidov has scored one goal and picked up two assists for a total of three points, including two points in a 4-3 shootout loss back in December. Letang should get to face Demidov another three games this season, and he won’t have to wait long either since the Canadiens are taking on the Penguins twice in October.
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