San Jose Sharks' Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau celebrate a goal against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday November 15, 2013.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
It's been almost two decades since Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau made their NHL debuts, but the San Jose Sharks old-timers still have some gas left in the tank.
The 37-year-olds are in the twilight of their Hall-of-Fame-worthy careers and no longer the stars they used to be, but they continue to play a large role for the reigning Western Conference champions and current Pacific division leaders.
Thornton logged more than 25 minutes Wednesday night in Ottawa while Marleau scooped up 22 minutes of his own in the Sharks' 4-3 win over the Senators, their second shootout win in as many nights.
San Jose holds the puck more often than not when the duo take the ice. Thornton ranks second on the team in puck possession (55 per cent), with Marleau just a touch back in third (54 per cent).
"I think both of us love the game and we still feel we can play the game at a high, high level and want to contribute each and every night," said Marleau, born two months after Thornton in 1979.
Thornton and Marleau are among the most productive players of the last decades, two stunning marvels of fitness who rarely miss a game. Ten players in the league this year weren't even born when Thornton and Marleau were drafted in 1997.
Marleau has missed only 31 games over more than 18 seasons since he was drafted second overall behind Thornton in 1997. He ranks first in games played among all NHL players during that stretch (1,472), last sitting out a game during the 2008-09 season.
Thornton isn't far behind. He's played in 95 per cent of possible games for the Boston Bruins and Sharks, missing a mere nine games since the start of the 2006-07 season.
Marleau credits his longevity to adjustments in training, eating, stretching and exercise as well as a new approach to rest. The Sharks annually face some of the league's most arduous travel and head coach Pete DeBoer has made it a priority to ensure that his players, especially the old guys, get to recover.
"I think there wasn't too much emphasis on rest and recovery right when we first came into the league," Marleau said. "Now you see a lot more teams talking about it and taking a lot more optional skates, especially with a west coast team that travels as much as we do. A lot of practices are video, going over video and things like that."
No NHL player has been more productive than Thornton. He's tops in both points (1,360) and assists (981) since joining the league. The underrated Marleau ranks fifth in points (1,047) during that same 19-year span and also fifth in goals (488). He'll likely become the 45th player in NHL history to reach 500 career goals at some point this season.
Both endure in different ways. Never the swiftest on skates, Thornton employs superb passing, vision, and an undervalued ability to protect the puck. Marleau has long been a terrific skater with persistence and a scorer's touch.
"But at the end of the day I think their hockey sense stands alone," Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. "They know how to work their way around the rink, make plays, win battles, those types of things, put themselves in good positions and that's allowed for good careers.
"There's no secret, you need a little luck along the way, but those guys have earned everything they've got."
Still, Thornton and Marleau are certainly not the players they once were.
Thornton is on pace for a 30-point dropoff from last season's marvellous 82-point campaign and his lowest point total in a full season since he was a teenager in Boston. He hasn't scored in 17 straight games after mustering 19 goals last year.
Marleau is only slightly off-pace for his 14th 20-goal season, but he's also on track to tally a career-low 31 points.
And yet the Sharks are undeniably a better team when either player is on the ice. San Jose generates the lion's share of scoring chances when Thornton and Marleau are out there at even-strength.
Both remain weapons on the power play too.
Both are also unrestricted free agents with uncertain futures at season's end. Asked last March about playing as long as 44-year-old Jaromir Jagr, Thornton responded: "If I feel good I'd love to play that long, but right now it's hard to say if I could."
"I feel great," Marleau said more recently. "(I'm) having fun out there so I'll keep going."