Marleau turning to family, coaching after tough time with retirement
NHL legend Patrick Marleau, the all-time record holder for games played (1,779 games) has had quite the time coming to reality that his career is over. Regarded as one of the most gentlemanly players, Marleau tallied up 1,197 points, two Olympic gold medals, and 20 playoff appearances.
Then the 2021-22 season came about, and no team offered a contract to the long-time veteran. This was one of the hardest times for Mr. San Jose Shark.
«Just trying to figure out my own plan, how to spend my own time, was probably the biggest thing,» Marleau said. «It was hard. And then talking to other retired players, some say it took years in order to feel normal.»
«My whole life has been hockey, hockey, hockey. That's how you identify, that's what you do,» he said. «It's trying to find (out), what's the next step, or what's your next passion?»
«Opening night, the first year he was done, he so badly wanted to be out there,» Christina said. «He just loves the game so much, and to see when it started, that was probably the hardest because it was the first time he wasn't out there.»
Before moving to Florida in the summer, Marleau got a chance to get back into hockey from a former friend and teammate, current Sharks GM Mike Grier. He believed that his former teammate would be able to display some hockey knowledge to the club's prospects for the annual rookie camp, and Marleau took the opportunity and ran with it.
This happened to be just the beginning for Marleau, as Florida has proven to be a gold mine for coaching. One of the main reasons the Marleaus moved to Florida was to enhance the probability of their son Landon going to the NHL. Landon is now playing in a program run by another former teammate, Shawn Heins, who was a tough defenseman who didn't see a ton of NHL time. The 16U AAA Florida Alliance program offers more intensity than anything offered in San Jose, and now Marleau is one of Heins' assistant coaches. Of course, the two former players differed on the ice, so it only makes sense to differ as coaches too.
Marleau also is the head coach of his son's 12U team, and volunteers from time to time with his other two boys as well.
Even though there have been rumors of Marleau being a coach in the NHL after retiring, he is in no rush to return just yet.
After 'really tough' time following his retirement, Patrick Marleau turns to family, coachinghttps://t.co/VRc84kccjf— Kevin Kurz (@KKurzNHL) November 24, 2022
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 24 | 215 ANSWERS Marleau turning to family, coaching after tough time with retirement Should Marleau return to coach in the NHL? | ||
| Yes | 95 | 44.2 % |
| No | 65 | 30.2 % |
| Maybe | 55 | 25.6 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex Tuch | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Owen Power | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Drew Helleson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jirí Kulich | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Isac Lundestrom | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Johnston | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Trevor Zegras | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||