Extending the Pipeline: Marko Lisica

Written by: Scott Savard

Headline photo: Chad Goddard

Okotoks, AB (March 1, 2026) – Plainview, New York, home to rapper and top 10 Billboard artist Hoddie Allen,  All Elite Wrestling (AEW) star Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF), voice actor Harrison Chad (Voiced Boots in Dora the Explorer), Danielle Harris who acts in a vairety of horror films, as well as Okotoks Oilers rookie forward Marko Lisica.

The town of over 27,000 people is a part of Long Island, making it a quick trip to New York City.

“It’s a pretty normal suburb. I mean, Plainview, New York, is not quite like New York City. It’s very busy. But I feel like everyone knows everyone; you run into some familiar faces all the time. It’s got all 4 seasons. Enjoy the winter, not as cold this year (in Okotoks), but summers are nice. You’ve got the beach 20 minutes away. A lot of hockey rinks. A lot of golf courses. I live right near Bethpage, where the Ryder Cup was this year, two minutes from there, so I play a lot of golf there. It’s good. Cosy town, a lot of houses, not too small, but I enjoy it. You get all 4 seasons. Pretty good population. Yeah, nice people,” Lisica said about his hometown.

Being so close to New York City, Lisica explained that he has taken advantage of visiting the “Big Apple,” but said that he makes sure to take the train, which gets him there in 45 minutes, because not many drive into the city due to the high volumes of traffic.

“I’m probably that’s smack in the middle (of Long Island). You go all the way west, which is like Brooklyn, right before New York City, Brooklyn, Queens, and then all the way out east is Montauk, where the Hamptons are, where it’s a lot more money, and it’s beaches and all that stuff,” he added.

Lisica, coming from the New York area, had a plethora of teams that he could cheer for. He explained that while most people he knew became Islander fans with their arena only being around 20 minutes away, Lisica decided that the Rangers were his team of choice, and mentioned how his room was decked out in blue.

“My room, since I was a kid, always had a Ryan Callahan signed jersey right over it. Always had a blue room; blue and red were always my favourite colours. But my family growing up were big Ranger fans. Big, big Ranger fans. So I think it was just the way I was brought up,” Lisica said.

As many athletes do, Lisica dabbled in many sports, as he also played Football in elementary and middle school. Soccer was another sport that grabbed Lisica’s eye as he mentioned his Croatian heritage and how that comes with the love of the game.

“I played a lot of sports. I played basketball in middle school. Hockey was always number one. I played football, played basketball, got into golf, probably like 6 years ago, probably now,  golf is the second sport that I play consistently. I was a big soccer player growing up. I still play in the summers, but I never really had time to play it. My dad’s European, my mom’s Croatian; they are both Croatian. So big soccer people, but yeah, soccer was always probably the number one in the house until I set out playing hockey,” he added.

Soccer plays a big part in the Lisica family, and he plans on going to the World Cup this summer.

“Yeah, I’m actually flying to Dallas for the first game against England. So that’s gonna be really fun. It’s just one of those things; it’s so special because hockey is every season, it’s 82 games. Soccer is one of those things. I follow league soccer in Europe and stuff, but I don’t think anything beats the passion for National soccer. Every 4 years, the World Cup, every 4 years the Euro Cup. It brings everyone together, and such a small country, like Croatia, with the population that has it so tiny, just the amount of people that support it, and come together, and how good we do,” Lisica said.

Lisica is very proud of his Croatian background and gets to reap the benefits as he visits the beautiful country often, as his family has property in the nation.

“Yeah, I go every summer. We got a house there. Yeah, so we spread it out, we do a good decent amount of travelling in the summer, but that’s kind of after the season. I take a little bit of time off, then once I get back into it, I go to Croatia for a couple of weeks before the season starts, just to relax and get my mind right before the season starts. It’s amazing, super awesome,” he added about Croatia. “The weather, nothing beats it. You’re good for maybe one thunderstorm when you’re there. But we got a boat there, I just got my boating license about a year and a half ago, so that’s nice now. I could just take our boat out with a bunch of my cousins and stuff, but where I stay, where our house is, it’s all New Yorkers. Like our family, we all live there. But, basically, wake up, go for a run, jump in the water, go to the beach, and go to eat lunch that grandma makes, grandpa makes, you go back to the beach, at like 4 or five, that’s the best time, it’s not that hot, and then usually shower, change up, go to dinner, and then everyone just hangs out in town usually.”

While the Croatians thrive at soccer, hockey isn’t a sport the country particularly dominates at, but with three teams in the State (New York Islanders, New York Rangers, and Buffalo Sabres) and another one less than an hour away (New Jersey Devils), the hockey influence in New York wasn’t far away. Lisica explains, though, that the team aspect of the game is what really caught his heart.

“I think growing up, I was always a team person. I always played team sports, and then I started to get into golf and stuff. I think it’s really important to do stuff together. I’m not an individual person; you see me around the rink, always with Gino (Joey Gugino), I’m always with Wieber (Josh Wiebe), I’m never by myself, and I think that’s what makes hockey so special.  You look at the NHL, not everybody’s good at the same thing. Everyone has their own little things. I was told growing up I wasn’t the best skater, but I think the game pretty well. I have really good hands.  I think it just makes stuff different from other sports. You look at football, like you’re a receiver, you’re supposed to run, run routes, and catch the ball. Everyone has their little different traits, but hockey is so special for the fact that you have to play both sides. You have to be 200 feet,” Lisica said about his love of hockey.

Lisica would continue to explain how the sport played on ice has also helped him mentally, as it’s a place for him to escape and be himself.

“I think there are so many good relationships you get out of playing hockey, and I always use that as a coping mechanism. Like, when school got hard, if life at home was rough, going to practice, going to the rink, it was like there was nothing wrong. Anyone you talk to, you talk to Deis (Oilers Head Coach and GM), you talk to my coaches, like, everyone says it, it sounds cliché, but you talk to anyone, and anyone would be willing to just go back in time to play one more game with your friends. There’s nothing that beats it, and it teaches great life lessons. There’s a lot of adversity, there’s a lot of good,  there’s some bad that sucks coming with any sport, but just the passion. As a kid, just the feeling of stepping on the ice, playing, and when things are hard, I don’t think life should be easy, and it’ll knock you down, but it teaches you a lot of life lessons. All my best friends that I have are through hockey. I think just the values of hockey and what it teaches you as a person and what it reveals about you, like, character wise, because it’s not meant for everyone, and I’ve talked to guys who don’t play a sport anymore, and they’re happy they at least played because it does reveal stuff, and build’s you as a person,” he explained.

Gugino is a player who came over with Lisica to the Oilers this season after spending last season together on the Long Island Gulls. Both currently live together, which is nothing new, as they did it the previous season as well, building a brother-like bond.

“Joey is my really good buddy. He’s from Buffalo, so we always grew up playing each other when I was on the Gulls, and he was on the Jr. Sabres. We always played each other, and he was always a big name. Never really talked to him that much, and then he played at (Shattuck-St Mary’s) our 14’s year, and then when he came to the Gulls, he lived in someone else’s house to start the year, it was our friend’s house, and they ended up moving. They were like, ‘Can we stay in your house for a little bit?’ So he and Cooper, Cooper Dennis (Brantford Bulldogs, OHL) stayed in our house for about like a week and a half, then they made it official that Joey was going be living with us for the rest of the year. He built that man cave downstairs, we had a basement for him, and ever since then, I think we just clicked so well. Like opposites attract in every way with us. He’s a very direct person; he’s very strong-willed. He’ll never admit he’s wrong. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and that’s what I love about Joe,” Lisica said about his close bond with Gugino.

“He’s a great friend. I always think of him as my elder brother that I never had, because I only have a sister. Never had a brother. He knows me inside out, I know him inside out. He was there for me in a lot of tough parts of my life the past couple of years. I love Joe. I was so happy last year when he decided (to stay with the Gulls) because we played together in our 16’s when we won the national championship, but then when he decided to come back to our 18’s year, he obviously just came back and stayed with us. My parents love him. Whenever I go to Buffalo, I stay at his house.”

Family means a lot to Lisica, and being away from home for the first time in his career while in a brand new country, homesickness comes with the territory. Joining the team with his long-time friend in Gugino, and also being joined at the start of the season by his other former Gull teammate, Henry Sampair, Lisica was able to lean on them for support to continue to thrive in Okotoks.

“It’s hard, especially when you’re a family person. I have a very close connection with my parents. My mom and dad do everything for me. My sister, she sacrificed a lot for me growing up. You know, going to hockey tournaments. My parents, I didn’t like to admit it as a kid, but my parents probably put a lot more attention on me, just because my sister was a cheerleader and dancer, she just did it through high school, they were like, ‘She was okay, Marko, we got to pay a little more attention to.’ They had to do a lot of things with her, but they sacrificed a lot. So I think just leaving home for the first time, being able to have someone that (Gugino and Sampair), you saw them go through it, and you just have someone who knows you so well. It definitely, it definitely helped a lot,” Lisica said about the importance of family.

The Long Island Gulls program has seen a ton of success, as many of their players have gone on to join top-tier junior leagues across North America. Lisica gives a ton of credit to the organization for helping shape him into the player he is today. He would win the National Championship with the 16U Gulls during the 2023-2024 season.

“I’ve been a Gull my whole life. 10 years, I think I was there. But, my 15’s year when the staff of Vinny Smith, Mark Lotito, all of them. You show up there at training camp, the first thing they have you do is the Murf, which is run a mile, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, and another mile. It’s the first thing you do when you get there. It really brings out character like we talked about before. But those guys, they mean the world to me. Vinny is a second father to me. He helped out a lot with a lot of things, mental health, hockey, and becoming a better person,” he said about the Gulls coaching staff.

“I think everyone was just bought in. You could ask Gino, he probably wasn’t the most team guy, probably to start, but they turned guys into college players, captains. The culture in the room, they had a lot of slogans in our locker room that we looked at, like, ‘Stay in the fight’, ‘You’re never alone.’ That was huge for us as a team. There’s no ‘I’ in team. It was always that mentality where you’re gonna go through it together, and we did, we did everything together, whether it was lunch, practice. If someone had lost a member of their family, we made sure everybody was at the funeral. Those guys I still talk to today, those guys are my brothers. You could have great hockey players, but if you don’t have good people, like, I think you can make a lot of comparisons in the NHL, you see it right now, the most skilled teams aren’t the ones that are winning the cup, it’s the ones that are best put together.”

Lisica added that the Oilers do a great job of bringing in good people, mentioning that Deis explained that to the new group of players that came to the Oilers this season. He continued to explain how important it is to have good people on a team, as they have to come together as a unit as well as hold each other accountable when things aren’t going their way. Lisica said that his experience as captain of the Gulls 18U team last season and his role as assistant captain the year previous to that, when they won the National Championship, have given him the ability to address his teammates properly.

He continued by saying anyone can be a leader, whether or not you have a letter on your chest, but added that there is always room to grow as a leader on a team.

There are 29 players currently in the NHL who have come from the State of New York, for example, three-time Stanley Cup winner Patrick Kane, Nick Foligno, Adam Fox, Trevor Zegras, Calgary Flames forward Matt Coronato, and more. While the Boston Bruins’ seventh overall pick from the 2025 NHL Draft, James Hagens, hasn’t made his NHL debut yet, the former teammate of Lisica is expected to make some noise once he makes his debut as New York continues to produce hockey talent.

“I played with them on the Royals before I was on the Gulls,” Lisica said about Hagens. “He broke his ankle when he played in a tournament, and I remember his mom and dad weren’t there, so me and my dad had to drive him, and I just felt so bad. He was in so much pain. Obviously, he’s a star. He’s always been a star with a great family. We still keep in touch. We skate in the summer a decent amount together. He’s a very good person; he treats people the right way.”

An important part of the game of hockey and in life for Lisica is mental health, as he’s a big advocate and wants to continue to bring awareness to the matter.

“Mental health is a big thing for me. I started to get into that stuff with the Gulls, about raising money and awareness for mental health, because I don’t think it’s talked about enough, especially as a male. Like I said, the sport can kick you around. There’s a lot of people who want to say stuff, and there’s doubters. I think you just got to surround yourself with people who care about you,” he said.

“You just have to surround yourself with people who genuinely care about you and just have a good support system. We had a kid who, unfortunately, committed suicide, Hayden Thorsen, who was close with a lot of the Gulls guys. This was three or four years ago, we started this thing called ‘Shoulder Check’, the NHL does it for (Thorsen).  You’re never alone, and you’re always enough. You gotta talk. I, as a kid, tended to keep a lot of things in. A lot of people, especially athletes, do, too, right?, because you’re scared of what people are going to think of you or what they’re going to say. So I think just like having people that you trust, who are gonna listen. If you meet someone that’s a good listener, they’re a special person, because a lot of people like to talk, not a lot of people like to listen. But I think it’s not talked about enough. I like how a lot of people in UFC, like, Paddy Pimblett’s a big influencer in that. It’s a real thing. I think it’s becoming more aware now, like more than ever. But, yeah, I think it’s just important to surround yourself with the right people. You know, it’s the biggest thing.”

While many players who come to the BCHL seek a chance at a post-secondary commitment to continue their hockey careers after juniors, Lisica came to the Oilers already committed to Dartmouth of the NCAA Division I, something he hasn’t taken for granted.

“It feels great. It’s nice to know in the back of your head that you have that, but in today’s day and age, now with the rule change, a lot of guys, you see, get decommitted, and this stuff, like, a lot more stuff.  But Dartmouth, I’m a pretty smart kid, and I always value education. That was always the big thing when I said I wanted to go play college hockey, but I want to come out better on the other side, because there’s another side to hockey when it’s all said and done. That staff’s incredible, Coach Cashman, Brian Fahey, and Coach Tapp, and all of them, they’re a great group. You see what they’re doing, that program. wasn’t talked about as much in the past two years. They were 11 and 0 to start this year. Gorgeous school, great hockey program. A couple of ex-Oilers, Tucker McRae plays there. When I went there, and they offered me, it was a dream come true because as a kid, it was always my dream to obviously play the NHL, but as I thought, more short-term, I wanted to play Division I, if not Division III. I was at the rink, and I got that call, and they offered me to go there, and a lot of guys say, take your time, and I was always that guy who was, like, I don’t get why guys commit so quickly, obviously I was talking with some other schools, but, I called my dad and I was like, ‘I think this is where I want to go, I don’t think anywhere is really gonna change my mind,’ and made that decision,” Lisica said about his commitment to Dartmouth.

Lisica’s parents, Denis and Susie, have both played a vital role in his getting to where he is today, and he would give them both a ton of credit as he continues to follow his dream.

“We talk about our whys, like why we do stuff; they’re my whys. I get emotional talking about it. They’ve given up a lot. My dad came from nothing. He was born here, but he didn’t go to college. education-wise not much. He was in Europe, he worked in the restaurant business, he told me he used to take a boat to school, like, a little oar boat across. He and my uncle didn’t come from much, but they surrounded themselves with good people. Whenever you need something, if anyone ever needs something and they’re in need, you always give life. My grandpa, my dad’s uncles, whenever my dad had nothing, they would give him 5 bucks; just the aspect of giving was a big thing. My dad came over here, and all he wants to do is give me everything, and that’s all he’s done. From taking me to hockey practice at four in the morning to paying for everything, to supporting me, but then, just being a great dad. Playing soccer, coaching me, being a giant fan, going to Rangers games, he’s a big inspiration. My mom, on the other hand, she’s also Croatian. My mom’s a workhorse. My dad owned a bar for 20 years. He did that, and now he’s a building engineer. My mom’s been an accountant in New York City for a while. She would get mad if I said the number of years she’s been working. But my mom wakes up at seven, goes to work, she comes home at seven, cooks food, wakes up, does it all over again, five out of seven days. She used to work from home two days a week, but she went five days in, so during school and stuff, I wouldn’t see her as much, but just working for the sole reason just to provide it for me, provide it for our family, just, it means everything to me,” he explained about his parents.

When asked if Susie or Denis is the better cook, Lisica joked by saying, “It’s gonna start a, start a rivalry here. My dad cooks more often. My mom always says that if she was at home as much as my dad, she’d be a better cook. My mom’s a phenomenal cook. She just doesn’t cook as much.”

“My mom, her mashed potatoes, she has signatures, like, a roast beef and mashed potatoes is amazing. She makes really good pasta. Her penne alla vodka’s really good, too. Then my dad’s more of the grill guy, like, his steaks are awesome. Then he makes, like, a lot of Croatian stuff, like pork, potatoes, all like the warm and comfort food, like, the soup and all that stuff.”

Lisica would also give credit to his sister Ariana, who he said helped him become the person he is today.

“So there’s a four-year age gap. She’s 22. She’s always been my biggest supporter, obviously, brother and sister, a lot of fighting and stuff. But at the end of the day, we both love each other. They tried her in everything; she played soccer, she did figure skating, she was never (into hockey), which was all right, everyone has their forte and stuff. She lays it into me when I’m not being nice to my parents. She’s not an old soul, but she’s very mature. I mean, she is older now, but she would always try to teach me stuff, and we would always get into screaming matches, but at the end of the day, she’s my sister. I love her. Obviously, growing up in hockey, she came to as much stuff as possible. She came to a lot of tournaments. She taught me a lot. She works really hard now. She’s kind of following my mom’s footsteps with accounting, tax, all that stuff. So she’s working now. She graduated from Syracuse last year, so proud of her. She’s gonna be really successful when she’s older, and she calls me every day. She texts me, and sometimes I don’t answer back. I’m really bad with my phone, really bad with it, but she’s my number one supporter. She sacrificed a lot for me, and I can’t thank her enough for that,” he said about his sister Ariana.

He added that while his sister wouldn’t join in on mini sticks with him, his mom and grandma would both play with Lisica. He joked by saying that his grandma used to play in net when he was around four or five as they played mini sticks.

Lisica also mentioned that his parents have made the trip down to Okotoks and approve of the area as it’s close to Calgary, it’s a good community, good food, and they enjoy his billets, Sheena and Kevin. He also enjoys the area, as the landscapes are much different from the concrete jungle of New York City.

“Yes, it’s different. I mean, when I go upstate, our coaches at the Gulls were big hunters. So they taught us a lot about deer and that stuff, but it’s crazy. When the sun’s coming down, you see the mountains, take a deep breath, and you know you’re in a different part of the world than New York,” he said about Okotoks.

Not only has he enjoyed the area, but Lisica also spoke about the Green Army and how much he appreciates the fans that come out to support the team.

“It’s great. This is my first year playing junior, so it’s pretty wild to hear people come to pay to watch you play. I think that’s another motivation. Like, if you want to show off to the fans, nothing’s worse than a team that’s losing, and then especially a team that’s losing at home. I’m a Rangers fan, so I feel it the other way around because I don’t think we’ve won more than 10 games at home at the Garden this year. At the beginning of the year, starting to build more awareness and starting to bring more fans out, I think it just adds a little more atmosphere to the game. I mean, obviously, playing hockey is one thing, but like, when it’s a dead rink, obviously, it’s just not as fun. But growing up, like, playing even with the Gulls and all those showcases and stuff, it’s all scouts. Not really like people coming out like real fans. So it’s pretty wild, and it’s pretty special. It’s fun, and it’s just a different feeling playing at home, and the more fans you bring out, the harder it is; you always want to build a hard environment to play in. I think home advantage is a real thing, especially when you have it in playoff time. I feel it when we go to other places, it’s so loud, you think twice before you make plays, you bear down a little harder on your stick. But yeah, it’s really cool,” Lisica said.

As for the rest of the season, Lisica said that fans should expect the Oilers to go down swinging as they are playing with a ton of pride to close out the 2025-2026 BCHL season.

“There’s a lot of hockey left to be played. We’ve got a lot of guys who’ve been in this organization for a while. We got a lot of guys who are ’05s, and their junior careers are coming to an end here. I’m a younger guy, but you gotta play for those guys. You just play for pride, and I think what they’re gonna see in this last month and a half, they’re gonna see a team that’s going to fight. That’s not gonna quit.”

10 Questions with Marko Lisica:

What is your go-to cheat meal?

” So I’m gluten-free, so it cuts out a lot of stuff, but I would say in New York, if I’m not gluten-free, a slice of pizza. I’m a classic guy. I like just cheese, but if we are going outside the box, I like chicken bacon ranch. That combo is really good. Okotoks, I’ll keep it fun because there’s not a lot of cheat meals when you’re gluten-free. If you find gluten-free stuff, that’s great, but I’ll say probably Freddy’s. Probably just got the original bacon cheeseburger. Tater tots, fry sauce, and the orange juice.”

Favourite sport other than hockey?

“It’s hard. I’m going to go with, to play golf and watch football.”

Favourite players and team growing up?

“New York Rangers. Wow, it’s hard. A lot of really good ones. I was a big Marty St. Louis guy as a kid. Close second before he got traded, I was a big J.T. Miller guy. He’s back now.”

What is your guilty pleasure song?

“I’ll give you an artist that I like, my old school, Justin Bieber, could jam out to some Justin Bieber. Eenie Meenie by Justin Bieber and Sean Kingston.

Who was your celebrity crush growing up?

“I’ll go with Margot Robbie, and Tate McRae more recently.”

If you could relive any day in your life, what would it be?

“Just because I played for the organization for that long, I think the National Championship (with the Gulls).”

Would you rather travel to the past or the future?

“I would go past because I like living in the present, and I don’t like knowing what’s going to come next. I would probably go to the period from 1994, so I could watch the Rangers win the cup to ’98 when Croatia finished third in the World Cup.”

If you can meet anyone in the world, alive or dead, who would it be? 

“Someone in the UFC, Conor McGregor, Paddy Pimblett, Dustin Poirier, like all of them. Get into a press conference with all of them.”

Where in the world would you go if I could snap my fingers right now and get you there?

“Play it safe, I’ll go to Croatia, easily, because it’s awesome over there. But also Japan. I always wanted to go over there.”

Who has the worst stick tape job on the team?

” I’ll probably go, Gus (Grady Gustafson), because nobody really has a weird tape. Gus tapes a stick, like he’s one of those guys who doesn’t care about it; he just lips it. The overlapping is horrendous.”

Bonus:

Do you prefer using white or black hockey tape?

“White. I switched to black, actually, for the beginning of the year. I was using black for the first couple of weeks, just because I couldn’t score. So I was trying something, but I think black just black doesn’t look good and feels heavier on my stick.”

Who on the team would you have as an emergency contact?

“I would say safe answer, Gugino.”

What is the best advice you’ve ever got from your parents?

“I’m going go with the original, go where you’re wanted, don’t be around people who don’t want you there, because it’s not good for you, and it does nothing for them.”