Don't Tell This Orthodontist He Can't Play Hockey Forever DANBURY, Conn. - As a seventh grader, Pete Maro would be teased by other youngsters while sitting in the stands at his brother's varsity basketball games. Maro's new braces required round-the-clock complementary headgear. One day his father, Peter Maro Sr., spoke up. "Peter, why don't you go get me a Coke?" he said. It was code for, "Go out in the parking lot and take care of business." That was the start of weekly scuffles that helped him develop the mentality to be a hockey player who, relatives and teammates say, merely doubles as an orthodontist. Maro now runs Blue Wave Orthodontics in Rye, N.Y., and Darien, Conn. And it seems appropriate that the Federal Hockey League's Danbury Whalers still call on him for spot-start duty in anticipation of a testy game. Maro, 46, has been living his dream since spending long afternoons on Magee's Pond in Oradell, N.J. He spent time in college as a Devils workout goaltender and had stints in the Devils" and Rangers" systems. Now he is the oldest person - by seven years - to play in the two-year-old F.H.L., a circuit full of castoffs, faded stars and young dreamers looking for a break. "I want to be like Charles Schulz," Maro said, referring to the creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip. He played hockey until the day before he died. Maro never lost the will to engage in a scrum - as he did in 2007, playing with the New England Stars in Danbury. And he has never lost the will to stand in front of a net, even for target practice as he did last summer with the N.H.L. players Ryan Shannon, Martin St. Louis and Alexei Kovalev. "How he even finds the drive and motivation to even want to still play at the level we play at, I have no idea," said Chris Seifert, a Whalers teammate who has lived with Maro and his family for two and a half years. Maro, who said he practiced with the Whalers every couple of weeks, started in goal against the Cape Cod Bluefins on Dec. 4 to defuse a potentially volatile situation. The night before, the Whalers and the Bluefins engaged in two bench-clearing brawls. Danbury's starting goaltender was suspended, so Coach Phil Esposito called on Maro for his experience in dealing with tension on the ice. "I knew Pete had been in that situation more than a few times, and he doesn't mind it if it happens," said Esposito, no relation to the former N.H.L. star with the same name. Maro did not expect to play more than a few minutes, but he finished the game and recorded 28 saves as the Whalers lost, 5-4. Asked what he remembered of that night, Maro teared up and said he had thought of his father, who died of pancreatic cancer four years ago. From his involvement in parking lot fights, Maro never minded a rumble. Even as a goaltender trying to crack the N.H.L., he looked more like a defensive enforcer. He was a 6-foot-1, 210-pound goaltender when the Rangers invited him to training camp in 1989. After two exhibition games, he was cut to make room for another rookie, Mike Richter. "Probably the right choice," Maro said. He quickly latched on with the Devils, for whom he had served as a workout goalie during summers home from SUNY in Potsdam and Geneseo. With the Devils" American Hockey League affiliate in Utica, N.Y., he served in much the same role for two years. "He was a good kid," Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello said in a phone interview. It wasn't a career sort of situation. It was more of an accommodation for us, and also an enjoyment for him. Murray Brumwell, the Utica captain, had seen his dream evaporate after playing in 102 games for the Devils over parts of five seasons. Brumwell was stuck in the minors, but Maro had a scholarship offer from the University of Louisville School of Dentistry. Pursue your other dream, Brumwell said, before both slip away. "Unfortunately, there were a couple guys with contracts in front of him," Brumwell said of Maro in a phone interview from his home in Montana. He was a very good goalie. I don't know if it was great advice that I gave him or the token advice, but I looked at the same thing. You can't play the game forever. Maro begged to differ. He took Brumwell's advice, but he kept finding places to play hockey: with the Ice Hawks in Louisville and with the Molson Ice during his orthodontic training at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. While with the Stars in 2007, Maro found himself in the midst of a brawl that involved fans. Five people were arrested and three police officers were injured. Maro, meanwhile, tangled with a 22-year-old who, Maro said, tried to trip him. Maro's role has changed over the years. He is now a mentor to dreamers like Joey Spagnoli, a 22-year-old backup goalie for the Whalers. Spagnoli said Maro inspired him to "keep plugging away," even as he commutes twice a week from the University of Rhode Island. One thing has not changed, though. When Maro is in net - he dressed as the Whalers" backup last month and Esposito said he could have more opportunities this season - he is still the same boy who scuffled in the parking lot and skated on Magee's Pond. "I'm still playing," Maro said. I'm just not getting paid for it. I'm still having just as much fun as I did back then.