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Coach Sheldon Keefe has helped launch a few NHL careers, now he might get credit for saving one.

Among the steadiest defencemen of the Marlies, with the Maple Leafs’ farm team headed to the Calder Cup final next week, has been the much maligned Martin Marincin. Dismissed as too klutzy by many observers, he retained the support of Leafs coach Mike Babcock for a couple of years for his size, reach and a lot of subtleties that only the club’s analytics experts seemed to appreciate.

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But the Leafs accelerated their program last season and Marincin couldn’t keep up. Even Babcock could see the Slovak was “getting in his own way” when the pressure was on, while the team had added Ron Hainsey, brought back Roman Polak and wanted to look at newcomers such as hard hitter Andreas Borgman.

So Keefe inherited a sour Marincin in October. All these months later, he has changed for the better.

“He’s done what’s needed, have a solid year and be a big part of a successful team,” Keefe said. “That’s what we talked about when he came down here. Marty has been terrific for us, a very understated person and a very understated player.”