Brenna Green and Tim Steele
19 minutes ago
Marcus Nguyen of the Portland Winterhawks, April 2024 (KOIN)
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Marcus Nguyen had a smile on his face when confronted with the information that no player of Vietnamese descent had ever played in the NHL.
“I didn’t know that as a statistic,” Nguyen said after stumbling over a few words. “But it's pretty cool.”
The Portland Winterhawks forward was born on August 2, 2004 in Calgary to a father who immigrated to Canada from Vietnam and a mother of Korean descent.
Perhaps, just maybe, his parents knew his fate before he came out of the womb.
“My dad's favorite player was Marcus Naslund of the Vancouver Canucks,” Marcus said of his first name (note the different spelling). She wanted a different name, but her father wanted her name. ”
Asked at the time if he felt a little bit of destiny in his hockey career, Marcus replied with a smile: “I think so, I guess it's something like that.”
The 19-year-old started playing hockey when he was four years old because of his parents. Hockey is not a very common sport among Asian families. There are currently only 12 players of Asian descent in the NHL.
Nguyen said he's played with “probably one” Asian player on every team he's been on.
“I've been on a different team almost every year. In fact, there are no other Asian players on the team,” he said.
But things have changed here in Portland, where the Winterhawks now have three Asian players on their team.
“It's been so great to see that side grow, because I'm proud to represent and I'm proud of who I am and where I'm from. , I think that's a really good thing,” Nguyen said.
And now that Marcus has the chance to break through a door that no one else has and become the NHL's first player of Vietnamese descent, he hopes he can grow his game.
“Yes, 100%” That would mean something, he said. “It would definitely be a dream come true, for sure.”
