Greycliff's Chronicles: Magic Marleau: going for his 1000th point

"SHARKS (10-8-0) at FLYERS (6-8-4)
TV: CSN-CA, CSN-PH
PHILADELPHIA -- San Jose Sharks forward Patrick Marleau will attempt to become the 83rd player in NHL history to reach 1,000 points when the Sharks play the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday at Wells Fargo Center.

It's no secret to regular readers of this blog that Patrick is my favorite active Sharks player and one of my top five all-time Sharks players. He is a consummate good guy, even when Jeremy Roenick called him out in his autobiography. He wore the 'C' from 2004 to 2009. Patrick is the leader in many categories for San Jose, including goals, even strength goals, power play goals, shots, points, and games played. He was a member of the gold-medal winning Canadian Olympic team in 2010 and 2014. He represented the Sharks in the All-Star games in 2004, 2007, and 2009. All of this has been accomplished while playing on the same team. This is remarkable in a time where even the great Wayne Gretzky spent his career on with multiple hockey clubs.

He will score that momentous number. If not tonight, then soon. Congratulations to a great hockey player. I hope when he retires, the League will see fit to induct him into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Good luck, Sir. I'll be cheering you on!

Marleau said the thought of reaching the 1,000-point milestone hasn't completely sunk in yet.
"I think it's easier to keep the focus on playing the game and playing hard, and those things usually happen," he said. "Or you get those points when you're playing hard and playing within a certain structure."

What makes Marleau's chance at history that much sweeter is he'll have done it all with one team. Selected by the Sharks with the second pick of the 1997 NHL Draft, he's the franchise's leader in games played (1,347), goals (462) and points (999), among other categories.

"That's pretty rare, to be able to have done that," he said. "It's definitely special to be all with one team."

Marleau has goals in two straight games after scoring once in his previous 12. Part of that coincides with a return to center.

"It's nice to get some results," he said. "Keep trying to do the same things game in and game out, and give yourself a chance to score. Started to go in the last couple games and looking forward to continuing that way."

Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said the move to the middle has allowed Marleau to take advantage of his speed.

"I think it frees him up to skate a little bit more," DeBoer said. "His best assets are his legs still at 36. I think it allows him to get his speed going a little bit. It's out of necessity; when we get [Logan] Couture back he'll go back to the wing. But he's comfortable there."

Marleau's teammates certainly are excited to see him this close to history.

"We're happy for teammates to set things like that," Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. "It's pretty cool to be part of that. As a young guy to be able to play with him ... he was one of my first linemates. My first game I got put on with him, so that was exciting as a younger kid and he's flying around. You take things that you can from him and you try to get better. He'll help you along the way."
Sharks forward Joe Thornton said the game plan doesn't change to help one player reach an accomplishment.

"But if [Marleau] is open I'm always going to give him the puck," Thornton said."

NHL website

Patrick's career stats (from San Jose's website):

Season	Team	G P	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PP	SH	G W	S	S%

1993-1994	Swift Current Legionnaires-SMHL	53	72	95	167
1994-1995	Swift Current Legionnaires-SMHL	31	30	22	52		18
1995-1996	Seattle Thunderbirds-WHL	72	32	42	74		22
1996-1997	Seattle Thunderbirds-WHL	71	51	74	125		37
1997-1998	Sharks	74	13	19	32	5	14	1	0	2	90	14.4
1998-1999	Sharks	81	21	24	45	10	24	4	0	4	134	15.7
1998-1999	Canada-WC-A	7	1	2	3		0
1999-2000	Sharks	81	17	23	40	-9	36	3	0	3	161	10.6
2000-2001	Sharks	81	25	27	52	7	22	5	0	6	146	17.1
2000-2001	Canada-WC-A	7	2	3	5		4
2001-2002	Sharks	79	21	23	44	9	40	3	0	5	121	17.4
2002-2003	Sharks	82	28	29	57	-10	33	8	1	3	172	16.3
2002-2003	Canada-WC-A	9	0	4	4		4
2003-2004	Sharks	80	28	29	57	-5	24	9	0	5	220	12.7
2004-2005	Canada-W-Cup
2004-2005	Canada-WC-A	9	2	2	4		4
2005-2006	Sharks	82	34	52	86	-12	26	20	1	4	260	13.1
2006-2007	Sharks	77	32	46	78	9	33	14	0	9	180	17.8
2007-2008	Sharks	78	19	29	48	-19	33	7	0	2	185	10.3
2008-2009	Sharks	76	38	33	71	16	18	11	5	10	251	15.1
2009-2010	Sharks	82	44	39	83	21	22	12	4	6	274	16.1
2009-2010	Canada-Olympics	7	2	3	5		0
2010-2011	Sharks	82	37	36	73	-3	16	11	2	9	279	13.3
2011-2012	Sharks	82	30	34	64	10	26	10	0	8	251	12.0
2012-2013	Sharks	48	17	14	31	-2	24	6	1	3	150	11.3
2013-2014	Sharks	82	33	37	70	0	18	11	2	4	285	11.6
2013-2014	Canada-Olympics	6	0	4	4	3	2	0	0	0	14
2014-2015	Sharks	82	19	38	57	-17	12	7	0	4	233	8.2
2015-2016	Sharks	18	6	5	11	-4	0	1	0	3	53	11.3
	NHL Totals	1,347	462	537	999	6	421	143	16	90	3,445	13.4

Career Playoff Statistics

Season	Team	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PP	SH	GW	S	S%
1995-1996	Seattle Thunderbirds-WHL	5	3	4	7		4
1996-1997	Seattle Thunderbirds-WHL	15	7	16	23		12
1997-1998	Sharks	5	0	1	1	-1	0	0	0	0	2	0.0
1998-1999	Sharks	6	2	1	3	-1	4	2	0	0	7	28.6
1999-2000	Sharks	5	1	1	2	-3	2	1	0	0	4	25.0
2000-2001	Sharks	6	2	0	2	1	4	0	0	0	12	16.7
2001-2002	Sharks	12	6	5	11	3	6	1	0	3	21	28.6
2003-2004	Sharks	17	8	4	12	0	6	4	1	2	45	17.8
2005-2006	Sharks	11	9	5	14	2	8	4	0	2	38	23.7
2006-2007	Sharks	11	3	3	6	-5	2	1	0	1	28	10.7
2007-2008	Sharks	13	4	4	8	-2	2	0	2	0	45	8.9
2008-2009	Sharks	6	2	1	3	0	8	1	0	2	12	16.7
2009-2010	Sharks	14	8	5	13	-3	8	3	1	2	56	14.3
2010-2011	Sharks	18	7	6	13	-1	9	3	0	1	59	11.9
2011-2012	Sharks	5	0	0	0	-1	4	0	0	0	9	0.0
2012-2013	Sharks	11	5	3	8	0	2	1	0	1	41	12.2
2013-2014	Sharks	7	3	4	7	0	2	0	0	1	25	12.0
	NHL Totals	147	60	43	103	-11	67	21	4	15	404	14.9