It’s Official: Marleau Announces Retirement

It’s official: Patrick Marleau has announced his retirement.

“Today, I announce my retirement from hockey,” Marleau wrote in a Players’ Tribune essay that was published this morning. “Thank you, hockey. For the lessons. The laughs. The tears. You let me live out my dreams.”

Patrick Marleau’s first game was the San Jose Sharks’ Oct. 1, 1997 season opener against the Edmonton Oilers. His last game was the Sharks’ May 12, 2021 season finale against the Vegas Golden Knights.

In between, San Jose’s 1997 second-overall pick set the NHL’s All-Times Games Played record with 1,779. He also scored 566 goals and 1,197 points. He’s one of just 46 players to have scored 500 or more goals in his career.

The 42-year-old enjoyed three stints with the San Jose Sharks, from 1997-2017, the beginning of the 2019-20 season, and the entire 2020-21 campaign. He also played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The speedy, durable forward holds a bevy of significant Sharks regular season franchise records, amassing 1,607 games played, 522 goals, 1,111 points, 342 even strength goals, 163 power play goals, 17 short-handed goals, 101 game-winning goals, and 3,953 shots in teal.

Marleau also paces the franchise in the playoffs with 177 games played, 68 goals, 120 points, and 457 shots. Marleau skated in the Stanley Cup Final in 2016 and the Western Conference Finals in 2004, 2010, and 2011 as a member of the Sharks.

Between Marleau’s retirement, long-time Sharks GM Doug Wilson stepping down last month, and the twilight of Joe Thornton’s career, it’s another end of an era in San Jose, future uncertain.

“When you think of San Jose, when you think of the Sharks, for me,” San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture said recently. “It’s probably Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Doug Wilson, Joe Pavelski.”