Marleau left impression from very start
Former coach Sutter: ‘He’s the epitome of a perfect player’
Patrick Marleau says he doesn’t remember much about his first game — the first of 1,768 — other than thenOilers defenseman Bryan Marchment trying to level him with a body check early in the first period.
It says a lot about Marleau that Marchment remembers it too.
Marchment, now a Sharks scout and development coach, was as rough and tough as they come back then.
“I can remember just how solid
he was back then,” said Marchment. “I ended up getting the worst of it. I thought, ‘this kid must be put together.’”
Marchment, who wasn’t aware that it was Marleau’s first game, remembers the play. He hit the then-18-yearold rookie straight on in the neutral zone, “and he basically skated right over me.”
Kelly Hrudey had a pretty good career — 15 seasons in the NHL, the final two with the Sharks, — but for him one of the highlights was housing Marleau.
In what would be his last season in the NHL and was Marleau’s first, Hrudey and his wife, Donna, took the rookie into their home with their three daughters, who were 11, 8 and 4 at the time.
“It just turned out to be one of the highlights in my sports career,” said Hrudey. “I have a lot of really fond memories of the game itself playing on the ice, but that having Patrick live with us was just a really special experience. I still cherish it to this day.”
Marleau said he stayed in the family’s guest house, but almost always came over for lunch and dinner. Without question, the experience helped