A notoriously strong skater, he is often referred to as "the fastest German on ice." His forays into the offensive zone are known as the "blitzkrieg". In the 1999 All-star game, Marco Sturm had the second best time to Peter Bondra in the fastest skater competition.

 

He was drafted by the San Jose Sharks 1st round (21st overall) in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. He was then traded to the Boston Bruins on 30 November 2005 with Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau for Joe Thornton.

 

He started his career playing in the Deutsche Eishockey-Liga "DEL" with EV Landshut.

 

Sturm was to be the captain of Germany's men's ice hockey team at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, but pulled out days before leaving for Italy due to an unspecified upper-body injury.