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Today’s Sunday Sport section in The Mercury News and East Bay Times features a heartfelt goodbye from Patrick Marleau, who headed to Toronto last Wednesday before the Maple Leafs training camp begins.
The full page color ad mirrors the note Marleau’s wife, Christina, posted on Twitter following the announcement that he had signed with the Leafs back in July.
To the @SanJoseSharks, the fans and the San Jose community from Patrick. pic.twitter.com/tK2v8ayIVK
— Christina Marleau (@c_marleau) July 2, 2017
The ad also calls back to the full page ad the Sharks organization took out to thank Marleau for his years in San Jose.
This transition hasn’t felt like an easy decision for Marleau. The Sharks are the only team he’s known, having been drafted by them second overall in 1997, at 17 years old. Marleau has quietly led the team over the past twenty years, and his departure is just as his tenure with the Sharks: understated, grateful, and full of emotion.
Thank you for everything, Patty.
You can read the ad in its entirety at Mercury News.