Canadian Olympic gold medalist Patrick Marleau of Swift Current, Saskatchewan made National Hockey League history on Monday by playing in his 1768th regular season game. Marleau broke the record for the most NHL regular season games played ever. Gordie Howe of Floral, Saskatchewan, had the old record of 1767 regular season games with the Detroit Red Wings from 1946 to 1971, and again with the Hartford Whalers from 1979 to 1980.
Marleau meanwhile played his 1768 games with the San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Pittsburgh Penguins. He was with the Sharks from 1997 to 2017, with the Maple Leafs from 2017 to 2019, the Sharks again in 2019-20, played in eight games with the Penguins in 2019-20, and then 45 games with the Sharks in the 2020-21 season.
Marleau’s record-breaking game on Monday came in a 3-2 Sharks shootout loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Marleau played 17 minutes and 21 seconds of ice time, had 23 shifts, one shot on goal, one hit, and one faceoff win.
For his career, Marleau now has 566 goals and 630 assists for 1196 points. He was a -22 with 527 penalty minutes, 555 power-play points, 21 shorthanded points, 109 game-winning goals, and 4322 shots on goal. Marleau, who plays left wing, won a gold medal for Canada at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, and the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
