SAN JOSE -- It was the fall of 1997. Google had just been registered as a domain name, Bill Mueller led the Giants in hitting, and 18-year-old Patrick Marleau made his debut for the San Jose Sharks.
One thousand, five hundred seventy-six games and an incalculable amount of heartbreak later, Marleau is headed to the Stanley Cup finals."We're just enjoying the ride right now," he said Wednesday, after a 5-2 victory over St. Louis sent the Sharks into the NHL's final round for the first time in franchise history."This team is a little bit different. The confidence we've built over the regular season and now in the playoffs, I think winning on the road helped us get close as a group during the regular season.