‘He’s going to help us a lot’ Josh Ho-Sang has returned to the Marlies and is ready to do something special

After an Olympics where Team Canada unfortunately didn’t make it to the medal rounds, Josh Ho-Sang is back with the Toronto Marlies.

The 26-year-old returned Marlies practice a few days ago, but Tuesday was the first time we got to speak with him since he arrived back in Canada from Beijing.

“It was an amazing opportunity,” said Ho-Sang of playing in the Olympics for Team Canada. “Obviously it didn’t end the way that we wanted it to and that’s unfortunate, but it was a great group of guys, a great experience.”

Ho-Sang has been to many parts of the world, most recently playing in Sweden just last year, and although there was a lot of hockey played in Beijing, there was also a lot of learning about their culture too.

“I do think it’s really cool to see culture around the world so you can appreciate where you come from and stuff. There’s certain things there that were amazing that I wish we had here, and there’s certain things that are here that I wish they could experience there.” Said Ho-Sang. “I think that that’s one of the beauties of the world.”

Joining a group of players at an Olympic games can be a daunting task. Each team is put together so quickly and sometimes that works well, other times it might not. But being able to adapt to situations in a quick timeframe is something that Ho-Sang has now experienced, and he will bring it to this Marlies team.

“The Olympics for a majority of the guys on our team was a lot of adapting. Just adapting to the different type of food, the different sleep schedules, all coming from all different teams, like, sort of where you are on the depth chart, adjusting to that, and just being able to come in and commit.” Said Ho-Sang. “I think if I can bring that here and just have that, remain to stay non-complacent, then I think that I’ll have success here.”

Travelling to Beijing and adapting to their time-zone and lifestyle is one thing, but then there’s the return to Canada after the Olympics which can be difficult too. Some athletes may get time to rest after, but Ho-Sang was coming back to finish up the second-half of his season in professional hockey.

“It’s been a lot,” said Ho-Sang of getting back into the thick of things with the Marlies. “I have a really hard time flying, so I was pretty jetlagged when I came back. The Marlies were kind enough to give me some time to adjust, and then I started skating by myself and yeah. Since then it’s been good, I’m feeling better and better every day. I got a little skate test in me a couple days ago and I passed that, so we’ll go from there.”

Marlies head coach Greg Moore said on Tuesday that there was “a good chance” that the 26-year-old would play on Wednesday night against Abbotsford. Moore was also really excited for Ho-Sang to be back with the team.

“He’s a vibrant person. He’s a very fun person to be around and get to know.” Said Moore of Ho-Sang. “A lot of times when we’re playing well as a team, it’s because of the big personalities that bring a lot of energy and he adds that to our group.”

Another player who is excited to have Ho-Sang back is Marlies captain, Rich Clune.

“I love Josh. I think that Josh has lived up to his end of the agreement coming here.” Clune said. “He’s made our team a lot better. I don’t know much about Josh in his earlier days, I don’t care to listen to what other people say or whatever has followed him into this organization, but the player that I’ve seen come here and embrace the program in its entirety and grow along the way… I was so proud of him to get into the Olympics and you know, he’s got a bright future. He’s going to help us a lot.”

Ho-Sang has returned to Canada without an NHL contract, but he’s said plenty of times that that’s not what’s important to him. He wants to be happy playing the sport he loves.

When asked about what he wants to accomplish for the rest of this season, though, he said he wants do something special with this Marlies team.

“Us winning, more than losing. That would be a good end of the season to me,” Ho-Sang said with laughter. “It would probably mean that we’re lifting up some hardware and I think that that’s ideal. I think we have the group to do it.”