He has hoisted the Stanley Cup in the Motor City and danced, on ice, for appreciative fans in Germany.

He is Norm Maracle. 

And, he’s back. And he wants to give back.

Maracle, 46, a proud member of the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory First Nations Reserve, has returned to his roots and is eager to get back into coaching. 

“I see myself coaching around here,” said Maracle, during a recent conversation with Inquinte.ca. “I will always love the game of hockey. And, I want to give back what I learned as a young boy.”

That would be, to be exact, almost 40 years ago, when Maracle, born in Belleville, was growing up in Edmonton. His peewee team lacked a goaltender. His father asked if Norm might step into the breach. No way, said the son.

But, that soon changed.

“I was seven years old,” said Maracle. “My dad asked if I wanted to play goalie and, at first, I said no. Then, we started watching Hockey Night In Canada and I saw all those cool masks the goalies were wearing back then and, well, that’s how I became a goalie.”

And a damn good one, too.

Maracle played three solid seasons in the WHL with the Saskatoon Blades, posting a sterling 2.76 GAA in 56 appearances during his final major junior campaign, 1993-94, with a whopping 41 wins. He was selected in the fifth round, 126th overall, by the goaltending-deep Detroit Red Wings in the ’93 NHL draft.

Eventually, Maracle would appear in 66 career NHL games with the Red Wings and the expansion Atlanta Thrashers (now the Winnipeg Jets). 

His finest season as a pro, however, would occur in 2000-01, when he backstopped the Orlando Solar Bears to a Turner Cup championship in the now-defunct minor-pro International Hockey League. That season, Maracle was named IHL MVP, IHL Playoff MVP and IHL Top Goaltender.

Still, not his favourite season. 

Recently, Inquinte.ca played some Q and A with Maracle. Here we go:

Q: Best and worst hockey memories?
NM: “Best was winning the Stanley Cup with the Wings in 1997 and bringing it back home to the Rez. Worst hockey memory for me was playing in my last game in Germany (2012). I was moving back to Canada and my daughter, Maya, is half-German and I left when my ex-wife and I were splitting up.”

Q: Who were your favourite goalies growing up?

NM: “Gerry Cheevers and Curtis Joseph.”

Q: What about now?

“Wow. That’s tough. I would say Carey Price is really good. I would love to see him play on a really good team.”

Q: How did you become such a fan favourite in Germany?

NM: “Hey, hockey is supposed to be fun first. So, when we won, I would dance for the fans. They seemed to love it.”

Q: In the NHL, you were known for your love of body art. What are your favourite tattoos?

NM: “Having a lot of Native art for my Native background.”

Q: What advice would you give to young goaltenders coming up through minor hockey today?

NM: “Fans will love you and hate you. But it’s the best feeling in the world knowing you’re the last line of defence for winning and losing games for your team.”

• NEED TO KNOW: On two championship teams, Maracle played with former prominent Belleville Bulls — Jarrod Skalde with the Orlando Solar Bears in 2000-01 and Darren McCarty with the Detroit Red Wings in 1997.