Patrick Marleau spent his entire career with the Sharks since joining the team as a 2nd overall pick in 1997 draft. The left winger is the franchise record holder in games played (1341), goals scored (459), game-winning goals (88) and points (996).
The Canadian player needs only four points to reach the number 1000 and join the elite club of only 82 players that did that before him, including teammate Joe Thornton, who played eight seasons for Boston previously. The interesting fact is that Thornton was the number one pick in the NHL draft back in 1997, one place ahead of Marleau.
Patrick Marleau has three goals and five assists in 12 games thus far this season. It is expected that he will celebrate the milestone in the next few games, and the next one is at home against Florida Panthers.
Marleau spent half of his life with the Sharks; he even met his life in the area, and they have four sons, ages 9, 6, 4, and 11 months. His two older sons are playing hockey for the area’s youth teams.
He is missing one thing, though, and that’s the Stanley Cup, which San Jose never won in the franchise history. Marleau turned 36 in September but has no plans of retiring. The championship trophy is his motivation, and the Sharks are in good position to be contenders this year. The playoffs should be reachable for the club.
The 36-years-old came to the NHL as one of the fastest forwards in the league and after 18 years, he is still the speediest skater in his club. “I can’t believe the level and the speed he still plays at,” the coach DeBoer said. “It’s amazing to me.”
Marleau played 82 games last season but had some injuries and finished with 19 goals and 57 points. They were his lowest totals in those categories in a full season since 2007-08. The Sharks missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season for the first time since 2003, and Marleau used the extended offseason to get healthy.
Marleau was named the Sharks’ player of the year on three occasions: 2004, 2009 and 2010. He played in the All-Star Game in 2004, 2007 and 2009. Patrick won a World Championships gold medal with Team Canada in 2003 and silver in 2005. He also won a gold medal for Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics (Vancouver) and the 2014 Winter Olympics (Sochi).
