[Stampede2TheCup]

Congrats to Marleau on a heck of a career!

I have a Marleau memory I’ll probably never forget. I played against him one year in bantam hockey. Our team hated him because his team always destroyed us and I hated him because I was a goalie.

One time I was at the canteen after probably our biggest blowout loss of the year to them and it was busy mostly with their team members. Most of their players were acting like a bunch of typical teenage jocks after a nice win. However, Marleau was incredibly humble, gracious and polite. He probably even knew I was the goalie he just lit up, but he acted toward me as if the roles were reversed.

I was totally blown away by this encounter given how minor hockey “star prospects” typically act and I couldn’t help but like him and root for him ever since. I don’t know if karma is real, but my one game after my change of heart was our only win against their team and the only game he didn’t score on me. When I stopped him on a breakaway and he banged his stick, it literally was probably the peak of my hockey “career”. Lol

Anyways, all the best to him and I hope he has a great post-NHL life.