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Patrick Marleau is beloved by San Jose Sharks fans and tonight he set a NHL for games played surpassing Gordie Howe.

What is even more impressive is that Marleau hasn’t missed a game since the 2008-2009 season. For those counting it’s 898 consecutive games played. He is now 41 years of age and it seems he wants to continue to play.

He will likely look to find a franchise that will give him the opportunity at what has eluded him, a Stanley Cup.

Marleau has said about his feat “just first and foremost is loving the game and I just love being out there and playing.” JHe also said “obviously, every kid’s dream is to hoist that Stanley Cup, so I’ve been chasing it all this time and that goal hasn’t changed for me, since you know what the Stanley Cup’s about.”

He did leave before and signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2017, two years later he ended up being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes, yet didn’t play for the franchise as he got bought out. Once that happened he ended up signing with the Sharks.

Yet he didn’t last long as he then got traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. After that season ended though he wound up signing again with San Jose.

Even more amazing is as he approached Howe’s record teams and rival players are recognizing Marleau for his accomplishment. He stated that “for those guys to do all that, it’s humbling. You’ve played against them a lot of games, a lot of hard-fought battles. There’s mutual respect there. For them to take the time to come over and shake my hand and congratulate me on what can possibly happen here in the next few days, I don’t take that lightly. That obviously means a lot to me.”

Marleau set the record tonight. He now sits alone at the top with 1,768 games played.

In his career Marleau has scored 566 goals and has 630 career assists for a total of 1,196 career points. His best year in the NHL came in 2005-2006 when he scored 34 goals, set a career-high in assists (54), and points (86). He set a career-high in goals (44) in 2009-2010.

For Marleau he recorded five regular season hat tricks and three playoff hat tricks. His last one came in 2017 against the Colorado Avalanche in which he scored four goals in the third period of that game. 

He also added 72 goals and 55 assists for a total of 127 career playoff points. Also in the 2005-2006 season he set a career-high in goals in the playoffs (9) and dished out five assists for a total of 14 points. He also had three other appearances with 13 points. Marleau also has four overtime game winners the most memorable one against the Detroit Red Wings in 2010.

Marleau got selected to three all-star games. He also won two Olympic gold medals with Canada once in 2010 and the other 2014.

Here’s the reaction on social media for Marleau setting the record tonight.

 

 

 

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