Marleau set for 1,500th Sharks’ game.
MONTREAL » Patrick Marleau assisted on a Christian Ehrhoff goal and played 18 minutes and 23 seconds in his 500th regular-season game with the Sharks, a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in November 2003.
In January 2011 in his 1,000th game with the organization, Marleau scored what was then his 18th goal of the season and played over 21 minutes in a 4-2 victory over the then-Phoenix Coyotes.
Fast forward another eightplus years and Marleau — who played his 1,499th game and had an assist in Thursday’s 4-2 win in
Montreal and will play his 1,500th with the team tonight in Toronto — remains an important, even vital, player to the team that drafted him second overall out of Aneroid, Saskatchewan, in 1997.
In fact, Marleau might be as important to the Sharks right now as he’s ever been — even his heyday with the organization.
At 40 years old, Marleau’s become a fixture on the Sharks’ top line with Logan Couture and Timo Meier. In Tuesday’s 4- 3 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres, Marleau had two assists and played 17:37, fifth most among all Sharks forwards.
After he spent his previous 21 NHL seasons either at center or left wing, Marleau is learning the position of right wing on the fly, and he’s arguably already become the Sharks’ best option at that spot.
He’s also averaging a point per game so far.
“I don’t think anything Patty does ever amazes me anymore,” Couture said. “He’s just so good. He’s the best player that I’ve practiced with, skating-wise, skill-wise, speed-wise. It seemed like he hasn’t lost a step, which is remarkable.”
Others who have played 1,500
games with one team/organization include Steve Yzerman, John Bucyk, Shane Doan, Alex Delvecchio, Nicklas Lidstrom, Ray Bourque and Gordie Howe.
After Marleau reaches that milestone, that list might not grow anytime soon. Dustin Brown of the Los Angeles Kings is nexthighest on the amount of games played list with one team, and he’s at 1,126 — four-plus regular seasons away.
“It’s incredible,” Sharks center Joe Thornton said of Marleau. “You’re lucky enough to play a thousand games. You’re not going to see it too, too often anymore, I don’t think.”
Before the start of the season, Sharks general manager Doug Wilson made a promise to younger players in the organization that they would get an opportunity to earn an NHL job. A few took full advantage, as wingers Lean Bergmann and Danil Yurtaykin made the team out of training camp.
After Evander Kane was suspended for three games at the start of the season, the Sharks had four rookies in the lineup for their opener against the Vegas Golden Knights. Yurtaykin and Bergmann were in the top six forward group for their NHL debuts,
Yurtaykin was placed on the top line with Couture and Meier on Oct. 2 against the Vegas Golden Knights and for two subsequent games. It didn’t go well, as the Sharks managed just three goals in their first three games.
Kevin Labanc played right wing on the top line for the Sharks’ Oct. 8 game against Nashville. But by that time, Marleau’s return had already been announced.
Right from his first practice Oct. 9 in Chicago, he was placed on the top line at right wing. The next night, he scored two goals against the Blackhawks, and he’s been there ever since.
There was no talk between Wilson and Marleau about what type of role Marleau was going to play with the Sharks. That was doing to be up to coach Pete DeBoer, who really didn’t have the luxury of easing Marleau into the mix considering the lack of overall experience at right wing.
Including his two assists Tuesday, Marleau has responded with five points in five games.
“Just a veteran presence, reliable guy,” DeBoer said. “He’s solidified one of our top lines there by giving Logan Couture someone he can rely on, that makes the right play, that plays an honest game.
“He’s creating offense, and he does it without cheating. He makes the right decision defensively all the time. He’s been fantastic.”
Marleau’s first assist against the Sabres showed he still has some magic left.
After Brent Burns created a neutral zone turnover by the Sabres, Meier picked up the loose puck with Couture going toward the Buffalo net. Marc-Edouard Vlasic jumped up in the play to create an odd-man attack just as Meier fed Marleau, who glided toward the net before he backhanded a pass to Vlasic for a tapin.
The two points gave Marleau 1,171 for his NHL career as he passed Bobby Hull for 52nd alltme. Marleau is now eight points back of Sergei Federov for 51st place.
“It’s betting a little bit easier. As I get more comfortable, it’ll become more natural,” Marleau said of playing right wing. “The system we play, we’re all kind of interchangeable.”
The Sharks are 3-1-1 with Marleau back. They were outscored 17-5 in four games without Marleau, and are outscoring teams 1915 in five games with him.
Marleau is understandably modest about how important he’s become to the Sharks in such a short period of time, feeling the team has done things by committee. Still, it hard to imagine the Sharks right now without him.
“Wherever you stick him on the ice, he’s going to play well and play hard,” Couture said. “He’s done that for us.”