Interesting observation

by Teas on Sep 10, 2009 1:21 AM PDT

You can take this how you like but today my season tickets arrived today. As usual the tickets' graphics rotate through 8 of the Sharks players - the best and/or most popular ones - and this seasons' tickets (and the packaging for that matter) do not feature Patrick Marleau. Now obviously this doesn't mean anything exactly, but the fact that the 'captain' or at least one of the leaders, as well as an All Star and our all time goals and points leader, is no where to be seen in the season ticket holder portfolios. Other noticeable absentees this season are Michalek, Cheechoo and Nabokov. The cover of the portfolio, which one assumes would be your core features, Thornton, Boyle and Pavelski while the tickets also have Murray, Vlasic, Shelley, Setoguchi, and Mitchell.

Now I know this is a pretty trivial thing, because there's only room for 8 players and it's just tickets, but these are season tickets that go out to the franchise's most financially invested fans and Marleau's absence speaks certain volumes about how the franchise as a whole is marketing itself and who it views as its best/most popular players for the 09-10 season.

Take this for what it is, just something I found interesting.

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I think idunno mentioned this somewhere in the comments, TCY told me over gmail, and Mike Chen did a piece on it as well.

Interesting stuff- I’m not one to really concern myself with rumors, but I bet it makes the rumbling all the more intense as we roll into October. I found this portion of your writeup very insightful:

…these are season tickets that go out to the franchise’s most financially invested fans and Marleau’s absence speaks certain volumes about how the franchise as a whole is marketing itself and who it views as its best/most popular players for the 09-10 season.

Can’t argue with anything there. Nice breakdown Teas.

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by Mr. Plank on Sep 10, 2009 6:43 AM PDT reply actions

I don't know...

I think you guys may be reading a bit too much into things. I’m assuming the person/people who choose the players who will be on the tickets is not Doug Wilson. Who knows how long ago this decision was made (2 weeks? 2 months?) Historically, Marleau was a leader/popular player among fans but just check out the other blogs/boards and he is one of the most controversial (besides Heatley) right now. With all the rumors, etc. it was probably just a safer bet to go with other players.

by AfroPuff on Sep 10, 2009 1:35 PM PDT reply actions

As I said...

one can’t read too much into this and of course it does not reveal DW’s hand as far as making player changes, but we’re not just talking about a good player, or a popular player, but a player who’s been an All-star multiple times, the long time captain, franchise leader in most offensive statistics, and life-long player with the team coming off one of his best seasons. I’m not saying we should expect a trade BECAUSE of this, simply that as they started preparing the business campaign for the upcoming season they had to have been told not to put any focus on Marleau. On the face it means nothing, but like I mentioned, you market your best players and everything we’ve seen related to the 09-10 season says Patty is not in those plans – not to mention the stripping of the C and DW’s statement that some players are untouchable and Marleau was not included in that list.

My buddy who got a 10-pack received a letter talking up the team and listing the big players, and again, no mention of Marleau at all. You’re right that DW isn’t making those exact decision, but there is most definitely communication between team management and business management.

Patrick Marleau could very well still be in teal next season, but we wouldn’t be die-hard fans if we didn’t see something like this and at least read between the lines a bit.

Oh, so that's where you edit your signature

by Teas on Sep 10, 2009 2:50 PM PDT up reply actions

eye twitch

I still have my Marleau ticket from a game last season that I had Sharkie sign.
It was good luck, too! (5-0 over the Canucks. Best Christmas gift ever)

I agree that it’s quite..bizarre to not have him on them this year.

by ohmymarleau on Sep 10, 2009 2:51 PM PDT reply actions

Public Relations Director Scott Emmert says:

“Don’t read into it”.

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by Matthew_Taylor on Sep 10, 2009 3:01 PM PDT reply actions

I don't for Cheech, Michalek or Nabokov

Absolutely do for Marleau though. He has waaaay too much history and has been a cornerstone player for over a decade. You’d never see them leave Thornton off one of these notices.

Oh, so that's where you edit your signature

by Teas on Sep 10, 2009 3:59 PM PDT up reply actions

Don’t read into it- buy into it.

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by Mr. Plank on Sep 10, 2009 5:58 PM PDT up reply actions

Puck Daddy

picked this up and talked to the PR guy (see TCY’s link above). Basically, these things were done at the beginning of the summer with input from the hockey operations people. Clearly, with all the speculation about Nabby and Patty back then, it would make sense to put the players they knew would still be on the team, regardless of their status as fan favorites or franchise cornerstones. I wouldn’t read much into it, except for that new rumor that just popped up with Heatley in teal within a day.

by Chicago Shark on Sep 10, 2009 5:10 PM PDT reply actions