Patrick Marleau has enjoyed an incredible NHL career. The longtime San Jose Sharks forward, and short-time Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes (kind of?), Pittsburgh Penguins forward was drafted way back in 1997, before a lot of the NHL’s current crop of youngsters were even born.
Not only has his career been long, but it’s been stuffed. Marleau is currently the league’s 2nd longest tenured ironman (894 consecutive games), trailing only Keith Yandle (904). Marleau’s 1,763 career games is just shy of Gordie Howe’s all-time record of 1,767.
No opposing team has felt the effectiveness of Marleau’s game as much as the Los Angeles Kings. Last week, Marleau set another NHL record by defeating the Kings for the 72nd time, the most by any player against one team.
On Saturday, the Kings beat the Sharks in the two teams’ final meeting of the year. There were certainly no hard feelings from the Kings players, as three longtime Los Angeles players took time to shake Marleau’s hand after the game.
Jeff Carter joined the Kings during the 2011-12 season, and he’s the newest of the trio. It’s safe to say they got to know Marleau pretty well over the years, and it’s clear that their respect for him is very high.
You love to see moments like this.
(H/T Mike Hohler)
