Lemaire wants Gaborik to dig down a bit deeper

MINNEAPOLIS�Marian Gaborik, Minnesota Wild forward and budding NHL superstar, is drawing raves on and off the ice, hailed by admirers as "not an asshole" and "a reasonably decent human being."

      The recipient of the NHL's inaugural Wayne Gretzky Ideal Player Award, Gaborik was praised by Wild coach Jaques Lemaire as "a true standout individual, the kind of person who treats others with a basic level of respect."

      "Marian Gaborik is a great player, but he's an even greater person," said Lemaire, who is accustomed to reporters asking him about Gaborik's normalcy. "I remember this one time during his rookie season, he was walking back to his car from practice, and a woman nearby slipped on a patch of ice and fell. He could have kept walking, but instead he asked the woman if she was okay. Right then and there, I knew this kid was something special."

      Gaborik, 20, who came to the NHL from Slovakia in 2000, is among the NHL's best at skating, passing in traffic, and going home quietly after games. A hardworking athlete, Gaborik has raised eyebrows around the league by never going AWOL or skipping practice.

      "I knew when he came into this league that he had the potential to be a standout player," said Sports Illustrated hockey writer Ted Brogans. "He had a reputation as a guy who would not only make the clutch play down the stretch, but also make eye contact with the backup goaltender. He has the potential to be a decent human being in this league for another 15 or 16 years, if he stays healthy."

      "I'll never forget what he said to me before the first interview I did with him," Brogans said. "He said, 'Hello, Mr. Brogans.' Then he extended his hand for me to, you know, shake. That's just the type of guy he is."

      Gaborik's remarkable normal-human-being behavior carries over into his personal life. Though unmarried, he spends a respectable amount of time with his good friend's 8-year old daughter and is rumored to be on good terms with the girl's mother. He is also said to be close with his own mother.

      Such decency has not gone unnoticed: Never accused of sexual assault, Gaborik has earned high praise for his lack of hostility toward women.

      "When he was in Slovakia, Marian voluntarily went to several Dukla Trencin women's hockey games and has been quoted as saying that he'd play for a female coach," Wild public-relations director Nikolai Visnovski said. "Marian Gaborik isn't merely in the top 1 percent of NHL players; he's in the 51st percentile of human beings."

      In addition to being a media darling, Gaborik's civility makes him a fan favorite. Though many pro athletes are abusive toward their supporters, Gaborik has, on numerous occasions, praised a home crowd as "good" or "great." Last week, after a tough home loss to the Detroit Red Wings, he smiled and signed three or four autographs in the XCel Energy Center parking lot.

      "That's unbelievable," said Lemaire, whom Gaborik has never threatened physically. "To come off a tough loss like that in the regular season and still be willing to interact with people, you just don't see that sort of thing very often."

      "Acting reasonably nice, exhibiting basic common decency, having a general awareness of other people's feelings... that's what sets Marian Gaborik apart from your run-of-the-mill NHL player," said ESPN's Dan Patrick, who called his November 2000 interview with Gaborik "possibly the most civil" of his career. "Here I am, an interviewer asking him questions, and instead of taking a swing at me or showering me with verbal abuse, he politely responds to my queries. He didn't have to, but he did."

      Continued Patrick: "It's nice to know that in this day and age, there are still athletes out there who say 'thank you' when you give them a new car for making the YoungStars team during thr NHL all-star weekend."

*PLEASE NOTE: This article is not true, the original content came from www.theonion.com.