Sep 5, 2017
Marleau excited for life as a Maple Leaf
Veteran off-season addition eager to get on the ice with his new teammates ahead of training camp, Kristen Shilton writes.
TORONTO — Patrick Marleau has revelled in the luxury of familiarity over his 19 seasons in the National Hockey League. He’s played all 1,493 games of his career for one team – the San Jose Sharks – and when late summer rolled around each year, Marleau returned to his off-season routine with ease.
But nothing about this coming season will be routine; much of it will be about how well, and how quickly, Marleau can adapt. Marleau has been a Toronto Maple Leaf for just two months now, since signing a three-year, $18.75-million free agent contract on July 2.
On Tuesday he stood in the Zamboni entrance at MasterCard Centre as an observer of the Leafs informal skate, itching to join in. It’s the first day of school in the Greater Toronto Area, and Marleau was relegated to drop-off duty for two of his four sons, so a first skate with his new teammates had to wait.
The transition to a new home, both the physical one where he and wife, Christina, are “up to our eyeballs in boxes,” and the metaphorical one with the Leafs, is sure to present a few hiccups. Yet Marleau is confident in the accelerated direction the Leafs are heading in – even if he hasn’t quite wrapped his head around being with a new “we.”
“After being in the playoffs last year, you don’t really see it as a rebuilding team. They’re a playoff team,” he said. “[They’re] a team that’s up and coming and has all those things we’ve been talking about. With the speed and the structure that’s been implemented the last couple years, [it’s] going to go a long way.”
If Marleau, who turns 38 this month, was looking for a fountain of youth to jump start his own game ahead of this 20th season, few teams could provide a boost the way the Leafs can.
In 2016-17, Marleau posted his lowest point total ever when playing 82 games (27 goals, 19 assists) with a Sharks' team that seemed stagnant. An educated guess would suggest Marleau will have an opportunity to start the season playing on second-year centre Auston Matthews’ wing - he of a 40-goal rookie campaign that earned Calder Trophy honours in June. The promise of being surrounded with so much youthful talent was a major draw for Marleau.
“I want to get out there and see it up close,” he said. “Being on the west coast, you’re able to watch the games before your games, and it’s very exciting watching YouTube highlights of these guys. Everything everyone has been saying – you can see it. [They’re] fast, talented. Seeing the great young players, prospects, talking to Lou [Lamoriello], talking to Mike [Babcock]. Just how they feel about the group and where they see things going is why I’m here.”
As a member of Canada’s Olympic team in 2010 and 2014, and Canada’s World Cup team in 2004, Marleau experienced first-hand what it means to play under Babcock. He, like Babcock (and new teammate Tyler Bozak) hails from Saskatchewan. Babcock’s reputation for being a demanding coach of all his players, including veterans, was an aspect of Toronto’s regime that Marleau says appealed to him.
“I know he expects a lot out of his players, he pushes them, and I’m looking forward to that challenge,” Marleau said. “I think the biggest thing with the coaches, and especially with Babs, is they’re able to change on the fly and have confidence in their players that they can make in-game adjustments.”
For goaltender Frederik Andersen, who spent three seasons in the Pacific Division with the Anaheim Ducks playing the Sharks regularly, adjusting to being on the same side as Marleau is a smile-inducing prospect.
“He’s a great player. Fortunately – or unfortunately, I guess – I’ve seen him a lot and played against him,” Andersen said. “He provides some good leadership and a lot of experience. Any time you add players everyone is going to want to raise expectations. We still want to put in the work and we believe in doing the right things. If you keep doing that, you’re going to keep getting better and that’s something we all strive towards – being a championship team.”
But before they get to that, Marleau has fleeting time left to get acclimated to his new surroundings before training camp begins Sept. 15. Thanks to his new teammate Connor Brown offering it up, Marleau will at least have the No. 12 jersey he’s accustomed to (“We haven’t talked about a [dollar figure],” Marleau said, “but I think I owe [Brown] a dinner or something”). It’s everything else around him that will be different.
Still, it’s something of a homecoming to be in Toronto, even with it being a place he’s never lived. Like many a Canadian-born NHL player before him, the pull towards a storied franchise north of the border can be hard to ignore.
“I think it was [Joe Thornton], being from Ontario, [who] said, ‘You’re going to love it,’” he said. “There is something to be said about growing up in Canada and watching Hockey Night in Canada. The very first time I put the jersey on I couldn’t get the smile off my face. I don’t know why, but that probably had something to do with it.”