Patrick Marleau

Lore & Background

Marleau was born in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, to parents Denis and Jeanette Marleau and grew up on his family farm near Aneroid. A sign near Saskatchewan Highway 13, just outside Aneroid, proclaims that it is Marleau's hometown. His parents have said they knew Marleau had a special talent when he was playing with 16- and 17-year-old players as a 14-year-old at the 1995 Canada Games in Grande Prairie and was interviewed by Hockey Night in Canada reporter Scott Oake. Marleau's junior hockey career took him to the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League (WHL), where he played two seasons. In his rookie campaign in 1995–96, Marleau scored 32 goals and 74 points, leading his team to a playoff loss to the defending Memorial Cup champions, the Kamloops Blazers, featuring future NHL star Jarome Iginla. During the 1996–97 season, Marleau was named captain of the Thunderbirds and led them to a second-place finish in the Western Conference. Marleau improved to 51 goals and 125 points, finishing top-three in the WHL in both categories. In the playoffs, Marleau led the Thunderbirds to the club's first Western Conference Championship before the team bowed out in the WHL Finals to the eventual Memorial Cup runner-up Lethbridge Hurricanes in four games. Marleau finished second in the WHL's Player of the Year voting, losing to Peter Schaefer of the Brandon Wheat Kings.

In Their Own Story

The arena is half-empty. Practice is over, the Zamboni has finished its pass, and the ice is that particular shade of white that only exists under the SAP Center lights. Marleau is still out there, alone, skating slow figure-eights around the blue line. His skates carve quiet grooves. He stops at center ice, drops his stick, and just stands there, breathing, watching the boards. A line coach calls out a faceoff drill. He nods, picks up his stick, and goes back to work. No music. No crowd. Just the soft tap of blades on ice and the faint echo of a puck dropped and won, again and again, until the lights dim and the building belongs to the night crew. That was the ritual. That was the man.

Reader's Guide

Following his second year of major junior, Marleau was drafted second overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 1997 NHL entry draft, behind future Sharks teammate Joe Thornton, who was selected by the Boston Bruins. Although he struggled early in his career, Marleau learned to combine his excellent offensive talents with defensive prowess from former Sharks head coach Darryl Sutter. Marleau was the youngest player in the 1997 draft class, and he debuted immediately at the start of the 1997–98 season. With the departure of five-year captain Owen Nolan following the 2002–03 season, the Sharks employed a rotating captaincy for the first half of the 2003–04 season, seeing Mike Ricci, Vincent Damphousse and Alyn McCauley wear the 'C' before the captaincy was permanently awarded to Marleau midway through the season. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Marleau was inactive but returned in 2005–06, having just signed a new three-year, US$12.5 million contract in August 2005, with a breakout season, becoming a point-per-game player with career-highs of 34 goals, 52 assists and 86 points in 82 games. In a game against the Colorado Avalanche on March 19, 2006, Marleau scored two goals to acquire his 400th career point. Near the halfway point of the season, the Sharks acquired Joe Thornton from the Boston Bruins. At the end of the season, Marleau was voted one of three finalists for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. In 2006–07, Marleau passed Owen Nolan's franchise marks for goals, assists and points. On January 4, 2007, he passed Nolan's 451-point mark with a goal and three assists in a win against the Detroit Red Wings. He then scored his 207th goal a week later on January 11 in a win against the Los Angeles Kings. In January 2007, Marleau played in his second NHL All-Star Game. In the off-season, Marleau signed a two-year, $12.6 million contract extension in August 2007. The following season, Marleau reached the 500-point mark for his career against the Phoenix Coyotes on November 14, 2007. In the 2008 playoffs, Marleau became the first NHL player since Brett Hull in 2002 to score shorthanded goals on consecutive days in the playoffs. He was selected to the 2009 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal, replacing the injured Pavel Datsyuk. In the summer of 2009, Marleau was removed as captain by head coach Todd McLellan. Rob Blake was named captain on September 30, 2009. Later in the yea

Did You Know?

• Marleau is the all-time leader in regular season games played in NHL history, passing Gordie Howe's record in his 1,768th game on April 19, 2021.
• He is one of just five NHL players to play 1,400 games with one team.
• Marleau holds the distinction of playing the most NHL games (both regular season and playoffs) without winning the Stanley Cup, an active streak as of the end of the 2023–24 season.
• His number 12 was retired by the San Jose Sharks on February 25, 2023.
• Marleau won gold medals with Canada at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics.