Patrick Marleau

Patrick Denis Marleau (born September 15, 1979) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League. He serves as the alternate captain for the Sharks during home games. Marleau is the all-time Sharks leader in goals, [Power play|power play goals]], points, shots, and games played having spent his entire NHL career with the Sharks since being drafted second overall by the franchise in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. He played his 1000th NHL game on 17 January 2011 against the Phoenix Coyotes. He has been named one of the Top 50 (#42 on the list) players headed into the 2010-2011 season by The Hockey News.

Early years
According to some sources, Marleau's birthplace is Aneroid, Saskatchewan,     while others say Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Patrick grew up on his family farm near Aneroid, Saskatchewan.

Junior career
Patrick 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 exploded onto the scene in Seattle tallying 32 goals and 74 points, leading his team to a playoff loss to the defending Memorial Cup champion Kamloops Blazers featuring future NHL star Jarome Iginla. The series ended 4-1, but Seattle took 3 of the losses to overtime before the Blazers won.

During the 1996–97 season, Marleau was named captain of the Thunderbirds and led them to a second place finish, behind the Portland Winter Hawks, in the Western Conference during the regular season. Marleau improved to 51 goals and 125 points, finishing top-three in the league in both categories. In the playoffs, Marleau led the Thunderbirds to the club's first and, thus far, only Western Conference Championship before the team bowed out in the WHL Finals to the eventual Memorial Cup champion 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.

San Jose Sharks
Following his second year of major junior, he was drafted second overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, behind current 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.

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 NHL season, seeing Mike Ricci, Vincent Damphousse and Alyn McCauley wear the 'C' before the captaincy was permanently awarded to Marleau at the mid-way part of the season. The new captain went on to match his previous personal high of 57 points from 2002–03.

Due to the NHL lockout, Marleau was inactive during the 2004–05 season, 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. New rule changes implemented by the NHL at the start of the first season back from the lockout that emphasized speed may have contributed to Marleau's successful campaign. In a game against the Colorado Avalanche on March 19, 2006, Marleau scored 2 goals to acquire his 400th career point, edging him closer to Owen Nolan's franchise mark of 451 points. Near the halfway point of the season, the Sharks acquired superstar Joe Thornton from the Boston Bruins. The Sharks were quickly considered a contender once acquiring "Jumbo Joe", but were upset by the eighth-seeded Edmonton Oilers in the second round. At the end of the season, Marleau was voted one of three finalists for the Lady Byng Trophy, awarded to the most gentlemanly player, but lost out to Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings.

In 2006–07, Marleau passed Owen Nolan's franchise marks for goals, assists and points all within a few weeks. 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. Marleau continued at a point-per-game pace on the season with 78 points in 77 games, ranking second on the team in each category. In January 2007, Marleau played in his second NHL All-Star Game and scored a goal. With high expectations for the playoffs, the Sharks were, however, eliminated by the Detroit Red Wings in the second round in six games. In the off-season, Marleau signed a two-year contract extension worth $12.6 million in August 2007, keeping him with the Sharks until the end of the 2009–10 season.

The following season, Marleau reached the 500-point mark for his career against the Phoenix Coyotes on November 14, 2007. His production for the season, however, dipped to just 48 points, his lowest total since the 2001–02 season. In the playoffs, Marleau became the first NHL player since Brett Hull in 2002 to score shorthanded goals on consecutive days in the playoffs when he scored back-to-back shorthanded markers in game three and four of the Western Conference Semifinal against the Dallas Stars. Despite his efforts, which included 8 points in 13 games total for the post-season, the Sharks were eliminated in the second round for the third consecutive year.

In the midst of a rejuvenated year for Marleau, overcoming his previous season's dismal offensive output, he was selected to the 2009 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal, replacing the injured Pavel Datsyuk.

In the summer of 2009, Marleau was stripped of his captaincy by head coach Todd McLellan. Rob Blake was named captain on September 30, 2009. Later in the year, while Blake was injured, Marleau was promoted to alternate captain, joining Joe Thornton and Dan Boyle.

On November 27, 2009, Marleau notched a hat trick against the Edmonton Oilers. His third goal of the game was a shorthanded marker to tie the game 4–4; the Sharks finished the game with a score of 5-4 in a shootout. On December 1, 2009, Marleau played in his 900th career NHL game and notched two goals in a 5-2 win over the Ottawa Senators. On December 26, 2009, Marleau scored his 300th (and 301st) career goal in a 5-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks. On January 12, 2010, Marleau scored his 30th (and 31st) goal against the Phoenix Coyotes to become the fastest player in franchise history to score 30 goals in just 47 games. It was also the first time a Sharks player was the first NHL player to reach 30 goals. In the 2010 playoffs, Marleau scored the game winning goal in games 3 and 5 in the 2nd round against the Detroit Red Wings, then scored 5 of the Sharks 7 goals in a sweep at the hands of the eventual champion Chicago Blackhawks

On June 24, 2010, Marleau chose to not test the free agent waters, and instead re-signed with the Sharks to a four year contract worth $27.6 million ($6.9 million per year).

On January 17, 2011, Marleau would play his 1,000th career game and score an early goal against the Phoenix Coyotes, becoming the third-quickest player to 1,000 career NHL games as measured by age, as well as the youngest player in NHL history to reach the milestone with the same franchise.

International play
Marleau won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2003 World Championships in Finland. Later, in the midst of the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Marleau joined Team Canada for two international tournaments, the 2004 World Cup, and the 2005 World Championships, capturing a World Cup title by defeating Finland in the final and a silver medal at the World Championships. In the summer following his silver-medal effort with Team Canada, he was invited to the national team's development camp for the 2006 Winter Olympics, but was omitted from the final roster.

On December 30, 2009, Marleau was selected to play for Team Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver at which he won a gold medal.

Awards

 * Named to the WHL West First All-Star Team in 1997.
 * Won a World Championships gold medal with Team Canada in 2003.
 * Played in the NHL All-Star Game in 2004, 2007 and 2009.
 * Named the San Jose Sharks player of the year in 2004, 2009 and 2010.
 * Won a World Cup championship with Team Canada in 2004, though he only played in preliminary exhibition games leading up to the tournament.
 * Named San Jose Mercury News South Bay Sportsperson of the Year in 2006.
 * Named a Lady Byng Trophy finalist in 2007.
 * Won a gold medal with Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Records

 * San Jose Sharks' all-time leader in goals - 357 (as of 2010-11)
 * San Jose Sharks' all-time leader in points - 766 (as of 2010-11)
 * Tied a Sharks franchise record for quickest goal to start a third period with his goal just nine seconds into the final frame on Oct. 10, 2009 vs. Minnesota
 * Became the fastest Shark to 10 goals in franchise history (13 games) (as of 2009–10)
 * Became the fastest Shark to 30 goals in franchise history (as of 2009–10)
 * Became the youngest player in NHL history to reach the 1,000-game mark with one team, on Jan. 17, 2011 vs. Phoenix
 * Third-quickest player (31 years, 124 days) to 1000 career NHL games (Dale Hawerchuk (30 years, 306 days) and one-time teammate Vincent Damphousse (31 years, 110 days))

Personal life
Patrick is married to Christina. They have two sons: Landon Patrick Marleau, born October 16, 2006, who goes to hillbrook school and Brody Christopher Marleau, born March 25, 2009.