Pat Maroon on the Scripp Sports set prior to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s preseason game versus the Florida Panthers on October 2, 2025.
Tampa Bay Lightning
During his four seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Pat Maroon felt the organization he was playing for and the city he was playing in provided so much more than simply being the fifth of eight stops on the timeline of his NHL career. True, winning back-to-back Stanley Cups while the wearing the bolt on the front of jersey was meaningful. There was also a much larger picture that was beginning to come into focus for the day he hung up his skates.
“When I signed here, I lived here fulltime and spent the offseason training at (the team’s practice facility),” he said. “It just felt comfortable. Tampa felt like home. What the Lightning can do for the players and their families is something I always talked to (former Bolts) about. They always wanted to come back and work for the Lightning, which is a topnotch organization.”
The 37-year-old Maroon returned. The Lightning announced in early September that the former forward, who played more than 1,000 regular season and playoff games in the NHL and won the Stanley Cup three straight years, one with his hometown St. Louis Blues and two with Tampa Bay, will serve as an alumni ambassador. Maroon is also a member of the Lightning broadcast crew providing pre- and post-game commentary on Scripps Sports. He made his debut on the set for Tampa Bay’s preseason game against the visiting Panthers on October 2.
“It is nice to be on the panel with guys that played for a long time,” said Maroon, who concluded his playing career with the Blackhawks in April, and who will also lend his expertise to the NHL Network this season. “I learned from (fellow former Bolts) Dave Andreychuk and Adam Hall, guys that have been here for a while. Also, (long-time host) Paul Kennedy, and kind of feed off them a bit. I am really looking forward to stepping in and providing my knowledge of the game.”
Chance to give back
Maroon views being a Lightning alumni ambassador as an opportunity to serve the community in a manner that is not restricted by the constraints of an 82-game season and the heavy travel schedule that goes with it. He will represent the team and the Vinik Sports Group, which operates the NHL club and the recently renamed Benchmark International Arena, in working with the Lightning Foundation at various events, including, but certainly not limited to, youth hockey.
“You play a game you love for so long and the most important thing is you try to give back as much as you can while playing, but sometimes we are so busy that we are not sure how much we can do,” he said. “I think when you retire, you try to give back more. It’s a great opportunity for me to learn behind the scenes in working with the foundation and what they do in the community.”
There are plenty of familiar faces Maroon will be working with in this immediate post-playing chapter of his career. Such familiarity only helps. Same with the city of Tampa, which has meant so much to his family, including where one of his three children was born.
“I am from St. Louis, and I won there,” he said. “However, winning two (Cups) here, having my daughter, Goldie, born here and calling this place home has meant so much.”
Heeding advice
Maroon received some sound advice from former NHLers and current analysts Kelly Chase (KMOX in St. Louis) and Darren Pang (Chicago Sports Network, TNT). A message delivered by the former, who has fought a courageous battle with leukemia, stuck.
“Kelly, word for word, told me when you get out of the game, get back into the game as soon as possible because, once you leave the game, you will miss it,” he said. “So, I always told myself that when I retire, I would get back into the game as quickly as possible. That’s what I am doing.”
To be with the Scripps Sports crew talking about the Lightning on top of being a community ambassador adds up to an ideal working situation that Maroon feels so fortunate to have.
“I have an opportunity to work for the Tampa Bay Lightning, which is amazing,” he said. “They are giving me an opportunity to broadcast and go into the community and do so many fun things. I am really looking forward to it.”