Confirmed Signing with Link: [SJS] Patrick Marleau signs with the Sharks (1 year, $700K)

[Jeti]

Do people not realize that him breaking the record is good for the Sharks? It's free publicity. All-time records rarely get broken.

We also don't know when the season will be, nevermind the circumstances it'll be played in, but we can be pretty sure the Sharks will be a bad team regardless of this signing. So they're giving the fans a feel-good story.

That's easily worth the $700k if he can be an average 4th liner.

 

[HabsQC]

Can Introduce you to Jack Johnson

Who signed him based on emotion ? Pittsburgh ? NYR ?

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

Who signed him based on emotion ? Pittsburgh ? NYR ?

Pitt

He was/is Sids best friend since meeting at shattuck st.marys in there teen years. Most of us believe he was signed for charitable reasons. There was a post somewhere on the pens board detailing his contract with the pens and how it lines up regarding the numbers needed top pay off his creditors. Not too mention a tweet from JJ in the post where he said Sid had offered him a sales job somewhere and JJ said nah i'm gonna prove myself on the ice. I'm not saying it's 100% certain but i'm willing to be 8/10 pens fans on our bored believe as such and me included.

 

[HabsQC]

Pitt

He was/is Sids best friend since meeting at shattuck st.marys in there teen years. Most of us believe he was signed for charitable reasons. There was a post somewhere on the pens board detailing his contract with the pens and how it lines up regarding the numbers needed top pay off his creditors. Not too mention a tweet from JJ in the post where he said Sid had offered him a sales job somewhere and JJ said nah i'm gonna prove myself on the ice. I'm not saying it's 100% certain but i'm willing to be 8/10 pens fans on our bored believe as such and me included.

Even if it were the case, that would be an exception. Usually GMs don't waste money or a contract spot. You understood my point. I don't think Marleau signs with the Sharks if they think he's done.

Habs actually have done one too. We signed Plekanec after traded him to Toronto just so he could play his 1000th game with us only to terminate his contract shortly afterwards. He needed like 2 games though. But you know since he agreed to terminate his contract, it wasn't really a waste of money/roster slot

 

[K Fleur]

Marleau played like a no heart loser in Pittsburgh.

 

[FissionFire]

That tweet is so cringe on so many levels

 

[Sinistril]

Howe was scoring backhand shots from the top of the circle at this point in his career. When was the last time Marleau or any other player did that? QED Marleau is terrible and should retire before daring to break a hockey record.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Breaking Howe's record should make Marleau a shoe in for the hall.

no it shouldn't.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

He played in 3 All-Star games.

I think he is referencing the postseason all-star teams, not the games.

 

[Islay1989]

Breaking Howe's record should make Marleau a shoe in for the hall.

Yeah, here's a HOF induction for hanging on longer than you should.

 

[Natey]

Yeah, here's a HOF induction for hanging on longer than you should.

He's still a completely fine 4th liner who can chip in offensively here and there. And he's going to sell more merch than some random 4th liner who isn't really an NHLer anyway.

 

[JR9981]

well at least he will break the all-time GP record in a Sharks uniform

 

[tarheelhockey]

Mileage has plenty to do with it when the amount travelled now is significantly larger than it was in Howe's time.

I just don't see that at all. If I work in Detroit and I have the choice between a plane trip to LA or a train trip to Toronto, knowing that I have to work once I get there, I'm easily taking the plane trip to LA. It's not even a debate. One of these is obviously going to be a lot more exhausting than the other, because it's going to take much longer and be much harder on my mind and body as a result, not to mention giving me a lot less time to rest and prepare once I arrive. The travel time is what's relevant, not how many miles are passing outside the window.

I disagree on the baseball point being a parallel with modern offseason NHL training.

I mean, you have to assume that playing semi-pro ball means you're playing ~5 games a week and practicing 1-2 times a week, plus doing daily BP and fielding drills. So you're getting daily light workouts, which isn't significantly different than an NHL offseason regimen in terms of body impacts. It's not like modern NHL'ers grind themselves to a pulp during the summer... even the "crazy" ones are low-impact and focused mainly on flexibility and cardio. If these guys were playing pro baseball they'd be getting roughly the same work on roughly the same muscle groups.

The last point is kind of a deflection. There are also plenty of injuries today that you didn't have in Howe's era for various reasons. The injuries weren't even the point. Howe had a very impressive career for many different reasons. But people like you put way too much emphasis on that era of hockey and the demands of it compared to now for the sake of embellishing a great person's career as if it needed it. You try to credit cross-country flying to Howe's impressiveness at the same time arguing that it was easy by comparison to the train travel he did for the large majority of his career.

I'm not embellishing anything. Every injury and travel schedule I listed is a matter of documented fact. I'm not sure why there would be an assumption that being a full-time professional hockey player is getting more physically demanding all the time. If anything, the entire point of advances in technology and medicine is to make it less demanding. The physical performance we see in 2020 is the result of taking emphasis off of unnecessary physical demands (e.g. facial injuries, blown ligaments) and shifting emphasis to technical precision which results in long-term wear injuries (e.g. worn-out labrums, back problems).

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I just don't see that at all. If I work in Detroit and I have the choice between a plane trip to LA or a train trip to Toronto, knowing that I have to work once I get there, I'm easily taking the plane trip to LA. It's not even a debate. One of these is obviously going to be a lot more exhausting than the other, because it's going to take much longer and be much harder on my mind and body as a result, not to mention giving me a lot less time to rest and prepare once I arrive. The travel time is what's relevant, not how many miles are passing outside the window.



I mean, you have to assume that playing semi-pro ball means you're playing ~5 games a week and practicing 1-2 times a week, plus doing daily BP and fielding drills. So you're getting daily light workouts, which isn't significantly different than an NHL offseason regimen in terms of body impacts. It's not like modern NHL'ers grind themselves to a pulp during the summer... even the "crazy" ones are low-impact and focused mainly on flexibility and cardio. If these guys were playing pro baseball they'd be getting roughly the same work on roughly the same muscle groups.



I'm not embellishing anything. Every injury and travel schedule I listed is a matter of documented fact. I'm not sure why there would be an assumption that being a full-time professional hockey player is getting more physically demanding all the time. If anything, the entire point of advances in technology and medicine is to make it less demanding. The physical performance we see in 2020 is the result of taking emphasis off of unnecessary physical demands (e.g. facial injuries, blown ligaments) and shifting emphasis to technical precision which results in long-term wear injuries (e.g. worn-out labrums, back problems).

The first point is irrelevant. The travel time is not the only thing that's relevant because it's proven that passing time zones has an effect on the body which happens more frequently on planes. I don't really care what your preferences are as it doesn't matter. You can deny that all you wish but it doesn't change things.

They don't grind themselves to a pulp but it's still more strenuous than playing semi-pro ball. Those workouts are barely anything. I don't see the parallel in the slightest. The focus isn't the same. The amount isn't the same.

The problem with your final point is that you think if anything technology and medicine make it less demanding. There's no reason to believe such a thing. The most charitable way to respond to that is to say that the demands merely shifted elsewhere rather than lessened. It didn't lessen. That's pretty clear with the travel increase, game increase, and pace increase to the game compared to that era.

 

[Yog S'loth]

I'm trying to read this thread and all I see are "there", "bored", "shoe in", etc. Man, I'm old and bitter.

 

[BrannigansLaw]

Marleau played like a no heart loser in Pittsburgh.

About the same way he played in his last year as a Leaf. The guy was done after the 2019 playoffs. This definitely seems like a sympathy signing.

 

[Nylanderthal]

About the same way he played in his last year as a Leaf. The guy was done after the 2019 playoffs. This definitely seems like a sympathy signing.

He’s definitely hanging around for selfish reasons. He knows he’s a lifelong loser and his only shot at any sort of notoriety would be the iron man streak and games played. Dudes a bum and his time in Toronto is more to blame for the contracts the three amigos got as opposed to dubas being incompetent

 

[DrSteveBrule]

About the same way he played in his last year as a Leaf. The guy was done after the 2019 playoffs. This definitely seems like a sympathy signing.

It's not sympathy, he's one of the most beloved players ever to wear teal AND he's very close to breaking Howe's record.

 

[DrSteveBrule]

He’s definitely hanging around for selfish reasons. He knows he’s a lifelong loser and his only shot at any sort of notoriety would be the iron man streak and games played. Dudes a bum and his time in Toronto is more to blame for the contracts the three amigos got as opposed to dubas being incompetent

Why so much hate for him? "Lifelong loser", "Only shot for any sort of notoriety..." Come on man this is pathetic.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

I've liked Marleau a lot his entire career, but his stint in Pittsburgh was nothing short of embarrassing.

 

[Nylanderthal]

It's not sympathy, he's one of the most beloved players ever to wear teal AND he's very close to breaking Howe's record.

Okay... Now add howes WHA games to the totals. Dudes hanging around to chase false records on a bum team. He has no interest in winning, just padding stats.

 

[Nylanderthal]

Why so much hate for him? "Lifelong loser", "Only shot for any sort of notoriety..." Come on man this is pathetic.

If he falls short of howes record how will he be remembered? I know in TO it will be for handcuffing his team with his trade demands after being absolutely dog shit the whole season. Fading away into obscurity on a nothing franchise is fitting for him.

 

[elmikeman]

The Sharks drafted Marleau in 1997. He's was called up to the club at age 17, and has played the lions share of his games with the SJS. He will retire with a pile of club records, including goals and points that will not be broken for decades at least. Patrick's record breaking nights will be given media/fan attention and his jersey will be retired by the club when he hangs 'em up.

What I'm saying here is that Marleau has sentimental value to the SJS that is tangible in a dollar sense.

Most other clubs would prefer to ice a younger "potential" player in that role, and that's totally understandable. Marleau is now 41 years old, and no longer the threat for 30 goals he once was, but to call him washed is completely wrong. And even if that were true, this is a league minimum signing... even a "poorer" club like the SJS can bury him if he becomes such a huge liability on the ice.

More than likely Marleau becomes a marketing gem in a rebuilding year (unless Burns/EK65 can both return to form) and gets traded for another 3/4th round pick at the deadline to a contender, when NHL experienced bottom 6 with low cap hits have tremendous value.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

About the same way he played in his last year as a Leaf. The guy was done after the 2019 playoffs. This definitely seems like a sympathy signing.

Done as a top-6 forward for sure. He's still a competent 4th liner with his speed and iq.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

If he falls short of howes record how will he be remembered? I know in TO it will be for handcuffing his team with his trade demands after being absolutely dog shit the whole season. Fading away into obscurity on a nothing franchise is fitting for him.

Hahahahahahaha. Salty ass tears.

Everyone knew giving him a 3rd year was dumb, but being dumb has been Toronto's thing since the 60's.

Blame your trash management and your coach who had a fixation, not the guy signing the irresponsible contract.