Malik standing tall on Vancouver blueline

Originally published in the Prague Post in 2003

By Lucas Aykroyd

Physically speaking, Marek Malik is tough to ignore when he walks into a room. But after years of toiling with low-profile teams like the Hartford Whalers and Carolina Hurricanes, the 6-5, 220-pound defenseman from Ostrava has often been overlooked by National Hockey League observers.

That may have begun to change when the Vancouver Canucks acquired Malik from Carolina along with Darren Langdon in exchange for Jan Hlavac and Harold Druken on November 1, 2002.

Tabbed to partner All-Star blueliner Ed Jovanovski, Malik had to show his knack for the simple, stay-at-home style. Jovanovski described Malik as a “bigger version of Scott Lachance,” an American defenseman who played the last two seasons with Vancouver before moving to Columbus as a free agent.

After some early stumbles, Malik fit right in. Averaging about 18 minutes of ice time a night, the 27-year-old veteran of nearly 400 NHL contests saw his new club race to a franchise-best 10-game winning streak in November.

“We have a really talented team here,” Malik said. “Lots of guys are playing a huge role and are still pretty young. This city is beautiful and the fans are great. I don’t think I could have come to a better team.”

When Jovanovski was sidelined with a foot injury in late December, Malik proved both his versatility and his ability to teach. Playing alongside rookie Bryan Allen, he helped the strapping youngster fit into the lineup seamlessly.

“As a young guy looking for someone to guide me, he’s been great for me,” Allen said. “He gives me tips on little things like staying on my feet and using my stick.”

Vancouver GM Brian Burke has coveted Malik for years. That’s no surprise, since Burke originally drafted him for Hartford in the third round in 1993 (72nd overall). On his best nights, Malik resembles Kjell Samuelsson, the hulking Swedish defenseman who suited up for four NHL clubs over 16 seasons.

“You can see he’s hard to beat,” said Burke. “It’s like trying to get around a giraffe.”

Malik has never had more than 88 penalty minutes in a season (2001-02), but amusingly, he can’t shake the perception that he’s an “animal out there.” Even his nickname, “Harry,” comes from the Bigfoot character in the 1987 comedy flick Harry and the Hendersons.

Malik reveals a sensitive side when discussing the shock waves that the trade from Carolina originally sent through his young family. He and his wife Michaela have two sons, Zack, 2, and Nick, almost a year old.

“At the beginning, it was like, ‘What are we going to do?'” Malik said. “We’d made Carolina our home, and our kids were born there. We bought a house and we really liked it there. Then all of a sudden, basically you have to shut down everything and sell the house and move to another city. You have to find everything all over again: new doctors, new parks for the kids and stuff like that. So at first it was a big shock.

“But after we moved to Vancouver, we found a new place pretty quickly,” Malik added. “Our kids are young enough that it’s a little bit easier on them. We don’t have to find new schools or anything, and they don’t have that many friends they had to leave behind.”

Malik has found it hard to stay in touch with his close friends back in Carolina, who include Swedish defenseman Niclas Wallin and fellow Czechs Josef Vasicek and Jaroslav Svoboda.

“Our schedules are different, and there’s a three-hour time difference. So far, they usually play on the nights when I’m not playing, so it’s tough.”

Proud of his Czech heritage, Malik speaks his native language at home so that his children will become fluent. In the off-season, he enjoys returning to his native land to relax with his family. His father Jiri is a retired police officer, and his mother Sylva used to teach biology and chemistry.

Ten years after the Czech Republic’s independence, Malik recognizes how the country has changed since the fall of Communism.

“We’re moving forward, though perhaps not as fast as everybody would have liked. But I think we’re in a better situation than other countries like Poland or Slovakia. I think we can do a little better on the economic side. But I can’t really control or influence that myself.”

He has been equally powerless to secure a place on the Czech senior national team. Despite strong outings at the 1994 and 1995 World Junior Championships (13 points in 14 games overall), Malik didn’t receive invitations as often as he would have liked from coaches such as Ludek Bukac, Ivan Hlinka or Josef Augusta for international tournaments. But he takes a phlegmatic attitude.

“It was disappointing when I was with Hartford, because we never made the playoffs, and I never got that call to try out for the World Championships team,” said Malik. “But in Carolina, I was not disappointed because we usually did get in. In 2000, I was expecting a call but it never came. Maybe the coaches didn’t see me play. But that was their problem. I did my best on the ice and thought I had a good chance.”

One of Malik’s most inspirational hockey memories comes from the 1990 World Championships in Switzerland. With little exposure to the NHL, this graduate of the Vitkovice system grew up admiring Russian defensemen like Viacheslav Fetisov and Alexei Kasatonov. In 1990, the 14-year-old Malik got to watch not only that famous pairing but also Canadian superstars like Paul Coffey and Al MacInnis, as the USSR and Canada finished first and fourth respectively.

“I always wished I could skate like Coffey and shoot the puck like MacInnis,” Malik said with a smile.

That’s not going to happen. But his dream of hoisting the Stanley Cup lies within reach. Malik played a big role in Carolina’s 23-game march to the NHL finals last year. Now he’s part of a young Vancouver team considered a legitimate Cup contender.

“Every game, I go on the ice with only one thing in mind: to give my best, 100 percent, sometimes more than 100 percent,” Malik said. “My role on the team is to play an even game against whoever’s going against me.”

Just doing the little things right could take this big man a long way.