Winterhawks’ Nguyen blazing his own trail in hockey
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Marcus Nguyen gets a grin on his face as he’s hit with a piece of information: There has never been a player of Vietnamese descent to make the NHL.
“I didn’t know that as stat,” said Nguyen after tripping over a few words. “But that’s pretty cool.”
The Portland Winterhawks forward was born to a dad who immigrated to Canada from Vietnam and a mom of South Korean descent in Calgary on August 2, 2004.
Maybe, just maybe, though his parents knew his fate before he even came out of the womb.
“My dad’s favorite player was Markus Naslund on the Vancouver Canucks,” said Marcus of his first name, (noting he spells it differently.) “That’s what my mom told me. She wanted a different name, but my dad wanted that name.”
Asked if he felt his hockey career was a bit destined then, Marcus responds with a smile, “I think so, something like that.”
The 19-year-old’s parents got him involved in hockey when he was just 4. It’s not a sport that’s super common among Asian families. There are only 12 players of Asian descent in the NHL right now.
Nguyen said he’s played with “probably, like, one” Asian player throughout all the teams he’s been on.
“I’ve been on a different team pretty much every year. There hasn’t really been another Asian guy on the team,” he said.
That changed here in Portland though, as there are three Asian players on this Winterhawks squad.
“It’s pretty cool to see that side of things grow. I’m proud to represent, and I’m proud of who I am, and where I come from, so it’s really good, I think,” said Nguyen.
And Marcus hopes he can grow the game himself, as he has an opportunity to knock down a door no one else has and become the first player of Vietnamese descent in the NHL.
“Yes, 100%” that would mean something, he said. “That’d be definitely a dream come true, for sure.”
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