Marleau chasing elusive Stanley Cup with Maple Leafs

TORONTO -- Toronto Maple Leafs forward Patrick Marleau still remembers the gnawing sensation in his gut, the churning feeling that goes hand in hand with watching an opponent skate around your home rink with the Stanley Cup.
"It definitely eats at you," Marleau said Monday, recalling the moment when Commissioner Gary Bettman handed Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins the Cup in San Jose two years ago. "You are never satisfied until you win it."
Consider Marleau unsatisfied.
RELATED: *[Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs complete series coverage*]

Marleau, 38, has played 177 playoff games, the most of any active player without having won the Cup. His next shot at the title begins Thursday, when his Maple Leafs face the Boston Bruins at TD Garden in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS).
But Marleau and long-time Sharks teammate Joe Thornton, who is second to Marleau among active players who have played the most postseason games without winning the Stanley Cup (160), still remember feeling helpless as the Penguins celebrated after defeating the San Jose Sharks 3-1 in Game 6 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Final at SAP Center on June 12, 2016.

It was the only time Marleau or Thornton has reached the Final.
"You feel extreme disappointment," Marleau said. "You're let down. You've worked so hard, you've gone as long as everybody else, and you come away empty handed.
"It shows how hard you have to work to win it. And how things have to go your way too."
After 19 NHL seasons and 1,493 regular season games in San Jose, Marleau left last summer as a free agent, signing a three-year, $18.75 million contract (average annaul value $6.25 million) with the Maple Leafs on July 2, 2017. It was a fresh shot at that elusive Cup for a veteran in the twilight of his career.
Something else that is new for Marleau: The bigger playoff media scrums in Toronto as opposed to San Jose.

"Impressive," he said Monday, a wry grin on his face as he surveyed the dozen reporters and three TV cameras surrounding him. "This is a great time of year. Anyone can win. I remember the Los Angeles Kings got into the playoffs as a No. 8 seed and went all the way.
"You never know what can happen. You just have to be patient. Look at what happened to a guy like Ron Hainsey."
Hainsey played his first NHL game Oct. 11, 2002. Five teams, 14 seasons, and 907 regular-season games later, he stepped onto the ice for his first playoff game last April with the Penguins.
It was worth the wait. Eight weeks after making his playoff debut, Hainsey was hoisting the Stanley Cup after Pittsburgh defeated the Nashville Predators in six games in the 2017 Stanley Cup Final.
Having signed with the Maple Leafs during the offseason, Hainsey, 37, scoffs at suggestions that Marleau's legacy would be tarnished if he retired without a Stanley Cup ring.

"Look how long I had to wait just to get into the playoffs," he said. "Meanwhile, look at the impact he's had in his career. He's going to the Hall of Fame.
"A lot about winning the Cup deals with the circumstances you are in and the team you are a part of."
But Marleau still gets peppered with questions about having played so long without winning the Stanley Cup.
"You hear that argument all the time," he said. "But look, there's been a lot of great players who have never won. It doesn't take away from a guy like Marcel Dionne, who never won a Cup but was one of the best players ever."
Dionne had 1,771 points (731 goals, 1,040 assists) in 1,348 games for the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers in a career that last from 1971-89. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992.
"Obviously guys that have been around a while and have been that good, you want them to win a championship after being so dedicated and working so hard," Marleau said.

His teammates in Toronto wish the same thing for him.
"For him to win it here would be awesome," forward Mitch Marner said. "He's been such a leader for us on and off the ice."
A father figure too. Marleau has taken a number of younger players like Marner, 20, and Auston Matthews, 20, under his wing.
His wife, Christina Marleau, tweeted a photo of Patrick and sons Landon (11), Brody (9), Jagger (6) and Caleb (3) sitting with Marner and Matthews at the Marleau's Toronto-area home a week before Christmas. "Patrick and his boys after dinner, before the epic mini stick battle," she wrote.

"He's such a great role model," Marner said.
Having grown up in California, the four Marleau kids had their first winter with snow this past year, and Marleau had a huge backyard hockey rink constructed to help the boys embrace the experience.
"They love it," he said. "They have buddies come over and play.
"In San Jose, they knew I played hockey. That was my job. But here, even the school kids know who they are and what their dad does for a living. That's how big hockey is here.
"The playoffs are going to be fun. The city is buzzing. We have a good, young team and we have a chance to do some things."
Marner hopes it finally concludes with Marleau being the one hoisting the Cup this time.
"He's never complained, he just keeps trying and trying," Marner said. "It'd be great to see him finally do it."