Patrick Marleau played his 1500th game as a member of the San Jose Sharks organization Friday — appropriately — on the road against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The game also marked his first back at Scotiabank Arena since his two-season run with the Maple Leafs ended when he was traded away in June. Friday's game made him a member of an exclusive group of skaters who have played at least 1500 games with one organization; No. 12 is just the seventh player to do it.
In a nod to his time spend with Toronto, the Maple Leafs played a tribute video for him during a first-period break in play.
Thank you Patrick, for everything you did for our Leafs Nation family, and making us a part of yours. pic.twitter.com/c8R7j42g2d
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 25, 2019
The video chronicled his first goal with the Leafs in 2017 among other highlights and examples of his friendship with the team's young superstars, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.
Marleau's two seasons with the Leafs coincided with the two 22-year-old's development into some of the league's top offensive forces. Both players have repeatedly noted Marleau as a close friend and mentor and even carved out time for the Marleau family to visit over Christmas last year.
The 22-year veteran could rise as high as second on the league's "most games played with one team" list if he plays in all 71 of the team's remaining games. Gordie Howe holds the record for most games played with a single franchise (1687 games with the Detroit Red Wings). Marleau, who signed with San Jose through the end of this season, will need to play 187 more games as a Shark to set a new record.
Patrick Marleau dives into the 1⃣5⃣0⃣0⃣ games club (with one team).
— Sporting News Canada (@sportingnewsca) October 25, 2019
With 7⃣2⃣ games left in the regular season, he could climb to No. 2⃣! pic.twitter.com/JLfZg6y5BL
Is the Aneroid, Sask. native aiming for that number? It's hard to say. After Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock claimed Marleau's goal is to break Howe's record, Marleau released a statement on Twitter via his wife Christina's account disputing that notion.
"I don’t think anyone can set out to break a games played record," Marleau wrote on Twitter. "There are so many things that can happen, and that is not my goal. My one and only goal is to win a [Stanley] Cup. That’s it. Anything else is just gravy. -PM"