Born in the rural village of Aneroid, Saskatchewan – population less than 100 – Patrick Marleau would mature beyond these humble roots to become one of the top players in the history of the National Hockey League. Marleau was selected second overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 1997 NHL Draft, one slot behind future teammate Joe Thornton. Over the next two decades, he became a fixture in the Sharks line-up and as one of the top NHL players of his generation. Marleau eclipsed the 30-goal mark seven times in his NHL career, and the 20-goal milestone 15 times, including scoring a career-high 44 goals in 2009-10. He served as captain of the Sharks from 2003-2009 and was an alternate captain for much of his Sharks career. Marleau punctuated his legendary career by becoming the NHL’s all-time regular season games played leader on Apr. 19, 2021, appearing in his 1,768th game – surpassing Hall-of-Famer, NHL legend and fellow Saskatchewan native Gordie Howe. He finished his stellar career with 566 goals and 1,197 points, along with 109 game-winning goals (T-7th NHL all-time). He stands as the Sharks all-time franchise leader in games played, goals, points, power play goals, game-winning goals and is second in assists. His 195 Stanley Cup Playoff games are the 23nd most in NHL history, and his appearance in the playoffs in 20 different seasons is tied for the third most. Marleau is also just one of 13 NHL players to skate in at least 23 seasons and is one of 14 players in NHL history to play in four separate decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s). Internationally, Marleau played for the gold-medal winning Team Canada in the 2010 and 2014 Olympics, represented Canada in the 2014 World Cup of Hockey (gold medal), and has appeared in four World Championships (1999, 2001, 2003- gold medal, 2005). His No. 12 was retired by the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 25, 2023 and he was inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 8, 2023.