Man, what a story.
After being recalled from the AHL earlier this week, Long-Island native Marshall Warren is officially set to make his pro debut with the hometown Islanders on Friday night in Philly.
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Warren received news of the call from coach Rocky Thompson following Bridgeport’s practice.
“It’s been a crazy journey,” Warren said. “It’s pretty hard to describe — I was driving here and I was thinking I was a little kid at Iceworks skating in that little Islanders program, like who woulda thought you’d ever be in this position. It’s really surreal, I don’t really have any words for it, just emotional.”
It certainly has been a crazy journey for Warren. He was originally drafted by the Wild in the sixth round of the 2019 Draft, but he never signed with them and instead hit free agency where he signed with the Isles out of Michigan.
The big left-handed defenseman put together a strong training camp showing and was able to carry that momentum into the opening stretch of the AHL season.
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Warren led Bridgeport with two goals and three assists over the first four games, good enough to help him secure the first AHL Player of the Week honors for the year.
Head coach Patrick Roy has liked what he’s seen from him over the past few weeks.
“He was really good in training camp, I thought he played really well,” Roy said. “He was Player of the Week down in Bridgeport and seeing him out there today, it was nice to see him being rewarded for what he’s been doing. Playing tomorrow in his first game will be even more of a great moment for him.”
That moment will start with Warren’s rookie lap, one he’s expecting will be emotional for him and his family.
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“Really cool, something really special,” he said. “A lot of hard work, there’s some days in sports where you don’t know if you are ever going to have a chance, and then when you’re that close it’s always pretty special.
“It took a village to get here and I put a lot of work in, a lot of sacrifice and a lot of sacrifices that people don’t even know I had to do — but yeah it’ll be pretty surreal, inside I’ll be like a little kid, but I’ll be in game face when I do it.”