SAN JOSE -- The cloth's weight is negligible.
Certainly it can't be a factor when a hockey player is in full gear.
Then again, sometimes a captain's 'C' feels like the weight of the world.
San Jose Sharks veteran Patrick Marleau doesn't believe the fact he doesn't have a letter on his sweater is a factor in his play this season.
He insists being stripped of the captaincy this past summer provided no extra motivation or took away any pressure to perform.
"All it is is just a letter," he said. "I'm still trying to lead the same way and doing the same things whether I had it or don't have it.
His M.O. may be the same, but the results sure are improved. Heading into last night's game against the Flames, Marleau, who's played all 902 NHL games for the Sharks, had collected 19 goals and 33 points in 30 games.
His career highs are 38 goals, which he notched last season, and 86 points.
At the rate he's started this campaign, Marleau would shatter his personal mark for goals and set a new standard for points in a season. So, there has to be some correlation between his success and not wearing the captain's letter?
"No, the team's doing well and I've found myself the last bunch of games with two all-stars," said Marleau, who's skated the past few weeks on a line with Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley. "That's helped a lot."
Taking away the captaincy from Marleau and eventually handing it to Rob Blake was a calculated risk for the Sharks.
However, head coach Todd McLellan insists it wasn't a decision based on believing Marleau is a bad leader.
"He's still viewed here as a very important piece of the leadership group. He just doesn't have that piece of felt on his shoulder," McLellan said. "Patty still leads like he did last year. I don't see a lot of change. He still steps up, I still go to him."
First instinct would be to believe Marleau was hurt more by the decision than he let on, but Thornton doesn't think that was the case at all.
"I think he ultimately wants what's best for the team. Whoever, the coach or (GM) Doug Wilson, whoever decided that felt it was best for the team, and I think he realized it," Thornton said.
So, pray tell, why is Marleau playing at an even higher level if it has nothing to do with the captaincy?
Is it having a chance to play at the Olympics? Has it something to do with the fact he's due to be an unrestricted free agent this summer?
Marleau said it's more a case of wanting to have a longer playoff run.
"You have good teams, you want to take advantage of it," he said. "Good teams are hard to come by. We've had a good team for several years now, and everybody's feeling we have to do something to make that big push."
