Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Marleau & Pavelski Back In Teal

SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose Sharks Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Wilson announced today that the club has re-signed Group III un-restricted free agent forward Patrick Marleau and Group II restricted free agent forward Joe Pavelski to four-year contracts. In keeping with club policy, financial terms of the deals was not disclosed.

“We are very pleased that Patty and Joe have committed to this organization now and in the future,” said Wilson. “They expressed a strong belief in the direction this franchise is heading but also understand the challenges to keeping a talented group like ours together.
Pavelski

“Both players had a tremendous regular season, excelled on the ice for their respective countries at the Winter Olympics and elevated their game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They have solidified their place in the game among the League’s top forwards and we are excited as an organization to have Joe and Patty back in San Jose to build on what we accomplished last season.”

Marleau, 30, recently completed his 12th NHL season, all of which have been played in San Jose. He ranks first on the all-time team’s list in nearly every offensive category, including games played (953), goals (320), assists (373), points (693), power play goals (97), game-winning goals (59) and shots (2,194).

Last season, Marleau set a career-high with 44 goals which tied for the second-most ever by a Sharks player in a single season (Nolan, 99-00). He finished fourth in the NHL in goals and 14th in the League in points (83). For the second consecutive season, Marleau was selected as the “Sharks Player of the Year” in a vote by the Bay Area media.

In addition, Marleau scored his 300th and 301st career NHL goals on Dec. 26 vs. Anaheim. He appeared in his 900th career game Dec. 1 vs. Ottawa and scored two goals. He became the fastest Shark to reach 30 goals in a season (47 games), surpassing Jonathan Cheechoo’s mark (50 games) from 2005-06. Marleau tied his career-high with a nine-game point streak from Oct. 17 - Nov. 4 and was named the NHL “Third Star of the Week” by recording nine points in four games from Oct. 19 - 25.

In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Marleau helped lead the Sharks to the Western Conference Final, posting 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in 14 games. He scored the game-winning goals in Games Four (in overtime) and Five against the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. He also added five goals in four games against the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference Final.

His eight playoff goals ranked him in a tie for tenth in the postseason and his three power play goals were also tied for tenth. Since the start of the 2003-04 season, Marleau has scored the third-most playoff goals of any NHL player (34).

Marleau was selected to represent Team Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver where he captured the gold medal and recorded five points in seven games. He also represented Canada at the 1999, 2001, 2003 (gold medal) and 2005 (silver medal) IIHF Men’s World Ice Hockey Championships. He was named to Canada’s gold-medal winning 2004 World Cup of Hockey squad but did not play.

The six-foot-two, 220-pound native of Aneroid, Saskatchewan was originally selected by San Jose in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft (1st round, 2nd overall) one spot behind teammate Joe Thornton (Boston, 1st overall).

Pavelski, 25, posted 51 points in 2009-10, including tying his career-high in goals (25) while playing in only 67 games. He missed 15 games with a broken foot, suffered on Oct. 6 at Los Angeles. Finishing sixth on the team in scoring, his 25 goals ranked third on San Jose. Pavelski finished the regular season fourth in the NHL in faceoff percentage (58.1%).

In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Pavelski led the team in goals (nine) and points (17) as well as plus/minus (+6), power-play goals (five) and game-winning goals (three) in 15 games. In the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Colorado Avalanche, he scored the game-tying goal with less than a minute left in Game Two, netted the game-winning goal in overtime in Game Three and the game-winning, series-clinching goal in Game Six. He added two goals against the Detroit Red Wings in Games One and Two of the Western Conference Semi-Finals.

Overall, his 17 postseason points tied him for 12th in the NHL and his nine goals ranked tied-for-seventh.

Pavelski was selected to represent the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, posting three assists and a +2 plus/minus rating in six games en route to winning the silver medal.

The five-foot-eleven, 190-pound native of Plover, Wisconsin was selected by San Jose in the seventh round (205th overall) of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

*courtesy of the SJ Sharks