Patrick Marleau with the San Jose Sharks. Photo NHL.com.
A milestone many thought would never be surpassed, was by Aneroid’s Patrick Marleau Monday night.
The 41-year-old played in his 1,768th career NHL regular season game in a 3-2 shootout loss in Las Vegas, surpassing the legendary Gordie Howe for most NHL regular season games played all time.
Howe, played 1,767 regular season games in the NHL, but also played 419 in the now defunct World Hockey Association.
As expected Marleau has been a media magnet the last few days, and told reporters ahead of the game it’s been without a doubt an emotional week.
“I need to remember there’s still a game to be played, but there’s a lot of other things going on at the same time, so I’m trying to balance everything and make sure I’m ready to play, while balancing everything else and trying to soak it in at the same time,” Marleau said.
The veteran of 23 NHL seasons remembered his first game on October 1st 1997, when he was just 16 days past his 18th birthday, and compared the emotions of both nights.
“As far as emotions being all over the place that’s the same,” Marleau said. “There’s obviously some differences to it as well, but definitely a lot of emotions going through my head,” he added.
With the milestone coming on the road in Las Vegas and not San Jose, Marleau was also able to have family in the seats, as Nevada is allowing fans in arenas in a limited capacity, while the San Jose area is not at this time.
1,768 games later, Patrick Marleau now owns the NHL record for the most games played in League history.
James Hetfield of @Metallica takes us on a journey throughout Patty's career. 👏 #HistoryMarleaud pic.twitter.com/NFhhzE29VQ
— NHL (@NHL) April 20, 2021
The milestones aren’t done for the humble Saskatchewan farm boy either, if Marleau is in the line-up Wednesday against Vegas, he’ll become just the fourth player in NHL history to play in 900 or more consecutive regular season games.
His iron man streak dates back to the 2008/09 season, last missing a game when he was 29.
In his career Marleau has 566 goals, 1,196 points, three All-Star appearances and two Olympic gold medals for Canada, in 2010 and again in 2014.
After the game Marleau was asked what keeps him coming back to the rink?
“I love it,” Marleau said, his voice finally cracking and showing signs of tears. “There’s nothing else like it.”
Name something you love as much as Marleau loves hockey 😭💙
(🎥: @NHLonNBCSports) pic.twitter.com/o1Ot0WbTxz
— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) April 20, 2021
