Early years

According to some sources, Marleau's birthplace is Aneroid, Saskatchewan, while others say Swift Current, Saskatchewan. He grew up on his family farm near Aneroid. There is a sign off Highway 13 just outside Aneroid indicating that Aneroid is the hometown of Partrick Marleau. His parents have said they knew Marleau had a special talent when he was playing with 16- and 17-year-old players as a 14-year-old at the 1995 Canada Games in Grande Prairie, and was interviewed by Hockey Night in Canada reporter Scott Oake.

Playing career

Junior career

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 champions, the Kamloops Blazers, featuring future NHL star Jarome Iginla. The series ended 4-1, but Seattle took three 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 WHL in both categories. In the playoffs, Marleau led the Thunderbirds to the club's first Western Conference Championship before the team bowed out in the WHL Finals to the eventual Memorial Cup runner-up 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 mid-way through the season. The new captain went on to match his previous personal high of 57 points from 2002-03.

Due to the 2004-05 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 two 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. Thornton was also the only player picked ahead of Marleau in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. 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 2002 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 Games 3 and 4 of the Western Conference Semi-final against the Dallas Stars. Despite his efforts, which included eight 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 second round against the Detroit Red Wings, then scored five of the Sharks' seven goals in a sweep at the hands of the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the 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 played his 1,000th career game and scored 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.

Once the 2012-13 NHL lockout had concluded, Marleau got off to one of the best offensive starts in NHL history. He scored two goals in each of San Jose's first four games, then coming one goal short of five-straight multi-goal games, becoming only the second player in NHL history to open a season with four straight multi-goal games. The only other player to do it was Cy Denneny with the original Ottawa Senators in 1917-18. On March 10, 2013, against the Colorado Avalanche, Marleau scored his 400th career goal after failing to score in the previous six games. However, the Sharks lost the game, 3-2. In the 2013 playoffs, Marleau scored his 57th career playoff goal, the second most of all active players, and 37th all-time. Marleau scored the most shots (41) and goals (5) with the Sharks in the post-season, and ended the season with 17 goals, 150 shots, and six, eight and 14 goals, assists, and points, respectively, on power plays, both ranking second on the team. Marleau also ranked third on the team with 31 points.

On January 24, 2014, Marleau signed a three-year contract extension with the Sharks through to the 2017 season.

On August 20, 2014, Sharks Head Coach Todd McLellan announced that the Sharks would start training camp for the 2014-15 season without a captain or alternates; he specified that Marleau would have the opportunity to "earn back" a letter during camp.

Marleau was the youngest player in the 1997 draft class, and he debuted immediately at the start of the 97-98 season. This conceptually makes him the youngest player to ever play in the NHL (in the modern draft era it would be impossible to debut at an earlier age than Marleau, as he was born on the last day of the draft cut-off, and debuted immediately in the first game of the next season). On March 19, 2016 Marleau became the youngest player to play in his 1,400th NHL game, becoming one of only 36 players to accomplish this feat. Two strike-shortened seasons during his career makes this achievement more impressive. At the end of the 15-16 season, Marleau 1,411 games played ranks him behind Jaromir Jagr, Jarome Iginla, and Shane Doan on the active games played list. It is conceivable that Marleau (36 at the end of the 15-16 season) could catch Gordie Howe's all time games played record (1767 games), and Marleau's 1,411 games played, all for San Jose, puts him 9th on the NHL all-time list of games played for a single franchise. On January 11, 2016 Marleau played in his 500th consecutive game. At the end of the 2015-16 regular season, Marleau's consecutive games played streak is at 542; the third longest active streak, and 15th longest of all time. At the end of the 2015-16 season, Marleau has missed only 31 San Jose Sharks games in his entire career (18 seasons). He has played in every game in 9 different seasons.

International play

Marleau celebrates with Team Canada during the 2010 Olympics
Medal record
Representing Canada
Men's ice hockey
Olympic Games
	2010 Vancouver	Team
	2014 Sochi	Team
World Championships
	2003 Finland
	2005 Austria
World Cup
	2004 Canada

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 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, where he won a gold medal. Marleau also made the Team Canada roster for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, winning another 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 Memorial Trophy finalist in 2007 and 2014.
• Won a gold medal with Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics (Vancouver) and the 2014 Winter Olympics (Sochi).

Records

• San Jose Sharks' all-time leader in Goals — 481
• San Jose Sharks' all-time leader in Even Strength Goals — 311
• San Jose Sharks' all-time leader in Power Play Goals — 153
• San Jose Sharks' all-time leader in Points — 1,036
• San Jose Sharks' all-time leader in Shots — 3,608
• San Jose Sharks' all-time leader in games played — 1,411
• Most seasons of 10+ goals scored as a Shark — 18
• Most seasons of 20+ goals scored as a Shark — 13
• Most seasons of 30+ goals scored as a Shark — 7
• Most consecutive regular-season games played as a Shark — 542
• Tied a Sharks franchise record for quickest goal to start a third period with his goal just nine seconds into the final frame on October 10, 2009, against Minnesota
• Became the fastest Shark to 10 goals in franchise history (6 games)
• Became the fastest Shark to 30 goals in franchise history (47 games)
• Became the youngest player in NHL history to reach the 1,000-game mark with one team, on January 17, 2011, against Phoenix
• Became the youngest player in NHL history to reach the 1,300-game mark on February 5, 2015, against Vancouver
• Became the youngest player in NHL history to reach the 1,400 game mark on March 19, 2016 against New York
• Third-quickest player (31 years, 124 days) to 1,000 career NHL games (Dale Hawerchuk (30 years, 306 days) and one-time teammate Vincent Damphousse (31 years, 110 days))

Personal life

Patrick and his wife Christina have four sons. The first, Landon Patrick, was born October 16, 2006. His second son, Brody Christopher, was born March 25, 2009. His third son, Jagger, was born soon after in the summer of 2011. Marleau and his wife have welcomed their fourth son Caleb in November 2014. Marleau and his family now reside in Saratoga, California. Marleau has an older sister Denise and an older brother Richard.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1995-96	Seattle Thunderbirds	WHL		72	32	42	74	22		5	3	4	7	4
1996-97	Seattle Thunderbirds	WHL		71	51	74	125	37		15	7	16	23	12
1997-98	San Jose Sharks	NHL		74	13	19	32	14		5	0	1	1	0
1998-99	San Jose Sharks	NHL		81	21	24	45	24		6	3	1	4	4
1999-00	San Jose Sharks	NHL		81	17	23	40	36		5	1	1	2	2
2000-01	San Jose Sharks	NHL		81	25	27	52	22		6	2	0	2	4
2001-02	San Jose Sharks	NHL		79	21	23	44	40		12	6	5	11	6
2002-03	San Jose Sharks	NHL		82	28	29	57	33		—	—	—	—	—
2003-04	San Jose Sharks	NHL		80	28	29	57	24		17	8	4	12	6
2005-06	San Jose Sharks	NHL		82	34	52	86	26		11	9	5	14	8
2006-07	San Jose Sharks	NHL		77	32	46	78	33		11	3	3	6	2
2007-08	San Jose Sharks	NHL		78	19	29	48	33		13	4	4	8	2
2008-09	San Jose Sharks	NHL		76	38	33	71	18		6	2	1	3	8
2009-10	San Jose Sharks	NHL		82	44	39	83	22		14	8	5	13	8
2010-11	San Jose Sharks	NHL		82	37	36	73	16		18	7	6	13	9
2011-12	San Jose Sharks	NHL		82	30	34	64	26		5	0	0	0	4
2012-13	San Jose Sharks	NHL		48	17	14	31	24		11	5	3	8	2
2013-14	San Jose Sharks	NHL		82	33	37	70	18		7	3	4	7	2
2014-15	San Jose Sharks	NHL		82	19	38	57	12		—	—	—	—	—
2015-16	San Jose Sharks	NHL		82	25	23	48	10
NHL totals				1411	481	555	1036	431		159	60	43	103	67

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1999	Canada	WC	4th		7	1	2	3	0
2001	Canada	WC	5th		7	2	3	5	4
2003	Canada	WC	01 !		9	0	4	4	4
2005	Canada	WC	02 !		9	2	2	4	4
2010	Canada	Oly	01 !		7	2	3	5	0
2014	Canada	Oly	01 !		6	0	4	4	2
Senior totals					45	7	18	25	14

[ Source: Wikipedia ]