Marleau set to have No. 12 retired by Sharks

Patrick Marleau said he's adjusting to life as a retired NHL player.

"Usually, you've got a schedule of where to be, what time, everything is planned out for you," Marleau said earlier this month. "Now I've got to be the planner, which is something new for me."
The 43-year-old former center said he's planning on saying a lot of "thank yous" Saturday when the San Jose Sharks retire his No. 12 before their game against the Chicago Blackhawks at SAP Center (10 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, NBCSCH, ESPN+, SN NOW).
It will be the first number retired in Sharks history.
"I'd be reading line after line, name after name … teammates, coaches, trainers, all the support staff, massage therapists, certain guys that you see, agents," said Marleau,
who retired May 10, 2022
after 23 NHL seasons. "It's just fun to be able to see them again and thank them and shake their hand and know that they're a big part of the success that you had."
Selected by San Jose with the No. 2 pick in the 1997 NHL Draft, Marleau had 1,197 points (566 goals, 631 assists) in 1,779 games for the Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins. The League's all-time leader in games played, he also had 127 points (72 goals, 55 assists) in 195 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
He reached the Cup Final once, in 2016, when the Sharks lost to the Penguins in six games.
He played his first 19 seasons with the Sharks, then signed a three-year contract with the Maple Leafs as a free agent on July 2, 2017. After two seasons in Toronto, he was traded to the Hurricanes on June 22, 2019, but his contract was bought out five days later, allowing him to re-sign with San Jose on Oct. 9. 2019. He was traded to Pittsburgh on Feb. 24, 2020, then returned to San Jose as a free agent for one more season, signing a contract Oct. 13, 2020.
In his total of 21 seasons with the Sharks, he is their leader in games played (1,067), goals (522) and points (1,111), and is second in assists (589) behind Joe Thornton (804).
"He's one of the first guys you think of when you think of San Jose," Sharks captain Logan Couture said. "Just him coming out of the Shark Tank as the last guy, that stride that he has you can pick up anywhere. Obviously, he means a lot to people in the organization, the fans, all the staff around here. He was the prime example of how to be a professional."
Couture remembers being told in his first training camp, "If you're going to play in the NHL, just watch this guy, just do what he does."
"I was fortunate that I was able to sit beside him at home in (in the locker room) for a lot of years," he said. "He's more on the quiet side but when you get the chance to talk to him you can feel the energy he has for the game, the love he has for the game of hockey, his family. Just a great person, a great hockey player.
"One of the best hockey players I've had the privilege of playing with, really, the size, the speed, the skill, the goal-scoring ability. He means a lot, I think, to a lot of guys that are still here."
Center Tomas Hertl said his former linemate is "Mr. Shark."
"He was just dialed in, working out every day," Hertl said. "Even when he was 40, he was in great shape and everything so he could be one of the best."
Marleau was a quiet leader with San Jose, the lower end on the decibel level compared to Thornton. He was also known for his ritual of taking an ice bath between periods.
Couture said one of his favorite Marleau moments was when he scored the series-clinching goal against the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of the 2011 Western Conference semifinals after being held without a point in the series.
"You could feel the criticism against him that he wasn't scoring, to see him score at home … that was just an unbelievable feeling," Couture said. "I was just so happy for him. Every guy in the room pulled for 'Patty.' He was a guy you wanted to be successful, so nice of a guy he was. To see that goal go in, the goal he scored at (Joe Louis Arena) in overtime from [Thornton] (in Game 3 of the 2010 Western Conference semifinals), his 500th goal in Vancouver, just so many incredible memories of him."
These days, Marleau is living the life of a hockey dad, watching and coaching sons Brody, Caleb, Jagger and Landon in South Florida.
"I'm at the rink more now than ever before," he said. "It's an adjustment, but I like being able to help the kids out."
NHL.com columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika contributed to this report