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The Toronto Maple Leafs will take on the San Jose Sharks at Scotiabank Arena on Friday, but the game almost seems secondary to the return of ex-Leaf Patrick Marleau, who will be honored with a video presentation during a first period TV timeout for his two years with the club and for his leadership and good example to players like Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.
"When you're a kid and you see a man, just about 40 and he still loves the monotony of the game. In other words, the travel, the training, the work, all the stuff that kind of gets you tired, and they never get tired. It gives you energy, and actually makes you take a look at yourself." Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said on Friday morning. "I think Patty did an unbelievable job for us. Obviously, we couldn't afford him, but he did an unbelievable job for us while he was here, helped our guys, he's been a great teammate everywhere he's been. His goal is to break Gordie (Howe)'s record (for most games played). I wish him luck with that. I wish him luck every night except when he plays us"
Marleau signed a three-year, $18.75 Million contract with Toronto in the summer of 2017, a deal which Babcock admitted and the Leafs knew they would have to deal with this summer with new contracts coming up for Matthews and Marner. The cost ended up being a 2020 or 2021 first round pick sent to Carolina to buyout the final year.
"The guy moved his family from San Jose to hang out with us for a couple of years. We enjoyed him while he was here. We knew right when we signed him. We couldn't get him for two years, but we tried.… Babcock said. “We knew the math didn't work when we signed him. That's just the reality of the situation. I mean it's all part of the business."
San Jose is playing in their second of back-to-back games after a 4-2 victory in Montreal on Thursday. Martin Jones is expected to start for the Sharks after backup Aaron Dell got the win over the Habs.
Morgan Rielly will be in the lineup on after missing practice on Thursday. The Toronto line combos were Matthews between Andreas Johnsson and William Nylander, Alex Kerfoot centering Ilya Mikheyev and Mitch Marner, Jason Spezza skating with Trevor Moore and Kasperi Kapanen, and the fourth line of Dmytro Timashov, Nick Shore and Frederik Gauthier.
Frederik Andersen will be in goal for Toronto.
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