SAY WHAT: CONGRATS, PATRICK!

MILAN LUCIC ON PATRICK MARLEAU:

DARRYL SUTTER, WHO COACHED MARLEAU IN SAN JOSE:

"He was a special individual. "Not so much hockey, he was just a special person. He was humble, quiet. He was 18 years old, so stepping in, that was an older group. He was a boy from a small town that wanted to play in the NHL and was trying to figure it all out. ... He's the epitome of a perfect player when you think of it, in terms of how he handles himself off the ice, on the ice. How he's respected by his peers, how he's respected by his teammates. He's almost the perfect player.
"There are four or five things, obviously, that go into it. Number one, it's easy to say longevity, but you have to say professionalism, training, healthy, play two positions, great attitude, great work ethic, not playing just for the money, but playing because he loves the game. All those things go together and it's just going to get added onto it. I know it breaks Gordie's record not including WHA games, but it's significant and, hey, that guy is going to keep playing as long as he (wants), because he obviously still has a great passion for it."

MARK GIORDANO ON CLIMBING UP THE STANDINGS:

"It's the old cliche, one game at a time. With the way that our schedule has been spread out now, too, it doesn't make it too difficult. Due to the situation in Van, games have been (rescheduled) and there's now a lot of time in between games. We look at one game - tonight against Ottawa - and then we don't play again until Friday, so as a player, it's pretty easy to get focused for each individual game."

ON GAPS IN THE SCHEDULE:

"It's tough to answer (if it's a good or bad thing), because on the one hand, it favours us, for sure, as far as terms of getting rest and our bodies feeling good and fresh for games. But on the other hand, there's a lot of rhythm in our game and when you get on runs and get on a roll, you want to keep playing every other night. We'll use the positive, obviously, of rest, but it goes both ways, to be honest with you."