Brian's Celebrity Blog: 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist: Patrick Marleau

Patrick Marleau is the San Jose Sharks all-time leader in points and has played his entire NHL career with the Sharks since being drafted second overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. He has been named one of the Top 50 (#42 on the list) players headed into the 2010-11 season by The Hockey News

Patrick Marleau's junior hockey career took him to the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League where he played two seasons. During his second year, Marleau was named team captain and led the Thunderbirds to a Western Conference Championship before the team bowed out in the WHL Finals to the eventual Memorial Cup champion Lethbridge Hurricanes in four games. Marleau finished second in the WHL's Player of the Year voting, losing to Peter Schaefer (REALLY????) of the Brandon Wheat Kings.

Following his second year of major junior, he was drafted second overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, behind current teammate Joe Thornton, who was selected by the Boston Bruins. Although he struggled early in his career, Marleau learned to combine his excellent offensive talents with defensive prowess from former Sharks head coach Darryl Sutter.
Marleau won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2003 World Championships in Finland. Later, in the midst of the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Marleau joined Team Canada for two international tournaments, the 2004 World Cup, and the 2005 World Championships, capturing a World Cup title by defeating Finland in the final and a silver medal at the World Championships. In the summer following his silver-medal effort with Team Canada, he was invited to the 2006 Winter Olympics, but was omitted from the final roster. On December 30, 2009, Marleau was selected to play for Team Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver at which he won a gold medal.