Mike Marson - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Michael Robert Marson is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

left winger

Winger (ice hockey)

Winger, in the game of hockey, is a forward position of a player whose primary zone of play on the ice is along the outer playing area. They typically work by flanking the centre forward. Originally the name was given to forward players who went up and down the sides of the rink...

who played five seasons in the National Hockey League

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

for the Washington Capitals

Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup...

and the Los Angeles Kings

Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...

.

Marson was drafted in the 2nd Round, 19th overall by the Washington Capitals

Washington Capitals

in the 1974 NHL Entry Draft. Marson signed a five-year contract with the Capitals and would become the second African-Canadian to play in the NHL. Former Boston Bruin

Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...

Willie O'Ree

Willie Eldon O'Ree, OC, ONB is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, known best for being the first black player in the National Hockey League. O'Ree played as a winger for the Boston Bruins...

broke the NHL's colour barrier in 1957–58.

After his hockey playing career ended in 1980 he studied Martial arts

Martial arts

Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....

. Marson became a 5th degree black belt

Black belt (martial arts)

In martial arts, the black belt is a way to describe a graduate of a field where a practitioner's level is often marked by the color of the belt. The black belt is commonly the highest belt color used and denotes a degree of competence. It is often associated with a teaching grade though...

in the Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese style of Shotokan

Shotokan

is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi and his son Gigo Funakoshi . Gichin was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing karate through a series of public demonstrations, and by promoting the development of university karate clubs, including...

, attaining the status of Master-Shihan

Shihan

- Title of "Master" is a Japanese Honorific Title, Expert License Certification used in Japanese martial arts for Master Level Instructors. The award of the Expert License Certification is if designated by the qualification by virtue of endorsement by the [A] Association of Chief Instructors or [B]...

.
Marson has developed an off-ice martial arts training program for hockey players designed to improve timing, focus and confidence. Current NHL player Rick Nash

Rick Nash

Rick Nash is a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger and captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League ....

is a student of the program.

After hockey, Marson also worked as a bus operator for the Toronto Transit Commission

Toronto Transit Commission

-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...

Pre-draft honors

OMJHL All-Star Second Team 1973-74
Led Sudbury Wolves
Sudbury Wolves
The Sudbury Wolves are the name of the ice hockey team from Sudbury, Ontario. Sudbury has had a hockey team known as the "Wolves" nearly every year since World War I. The Sudbury Wolves, the senior men's AAA team, have twice been chosen to be Canada's representatives at the Ice Hockey World...

with 94 points at age 18 in 1973-74.

NHL awards and honours

Was available in 1974 NHL Amateur Draft because of league's decision to allow drafting of underage players that year
Scored hat trick in 1974 preseason game vs. Detroit in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
His first NHL game was also first game in Washington Capitals franchise history.
Number 16 (Washington
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup...

) & Number 9 (Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

)
Suffered concussion in collision with St. Louis Blues Garnet "Ace" Bailey during a Dec. 7, 1974, game at St. Louis.

Non-NHL career post-draft teams

Baltimore Clippers

The Baltimore Clippers were an American ice hockey team. They were the first of three Baltimore entries into the American Hockey League, who played from 1962–76...

(AHL

American Hockey League