Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

Earlier today, I saw a list of National Hockey League players who played a thousand or more regular season games in the league.

How many players have had the opportunity to suit up for an NHL team since the league formed in 1917?  Five thousand?  Can’t be that many, seeing that for twenty-five years, there were only six teams in the circuit.  Before 1942, when there were more teams in the league, how big were the rosters?

Whatever that number may be, as of Friday, November 13^th, 2009, from what I could see, only 238 players have played at least 1000 regular-season NHL games.  One might expect the giants of the game to be on that list, after all, you’d have to be pretty good to last that long in the world’s premier hockey league.  Or would you?  Maybe you just have to be good enough to stick around, just good enough to fill out the fourth line.

Gordie Howe leads the list with 1767 games under his belt during a 26-year NHL career, and that doesn’t take into account his years in the World Hockey Association.  Mark Messier follows Mr. Hockey, falling 11 games short of his total.  Ron Francis gets the bronze medal with 1731 games played, Chris Chelios has participated in 1644 games in the NHL…and possibly counting…and Dave Andreychuk sits in fifth spot with 1639.

The first three are Hall-of-Famers, Chelios will be one day if he ever decides to retire, and a good case can be made for Andreychuk to be there too.

Scanning down the list, most of the players listed near the top are Hall-of-Famers.  Scott Stevens, Ray Bourque, Larry Murphy, Johnny Bucyk, Steve Yzerman; just some of the names that pop out at you.  All of them great players during their tour-of-duty in the NHL.

But what about the plumbers, the spear-carriers, the lunch-bucket guys who turned a skill set based on limited talent and hard work into an NHL career that spanned over 1000 games?  When you think about it, it’s those guys that deserved the proverbial gold watch.  Most hockey fans probably would be unaware that they played that many games in the league.

How about defenceman Luke Richardson, who got into 1417 games over the course of his 20-year NHL career that was spent with 6 teams, including two stops in Toronto?  No-one should seriously consider Richardson for the Hall-of-Fame, but this steady D-man sits 22^nd on the list of games played.  Only 21 other players have a longer service record that Luke Richardson.  That’s gotta count for something.

Or how about, in 31^st spot, Doug Mohns, who played 1390 games spread over 22 years and five teams, most of them with the Bruins and Blackhawks well before the 1967 expansion?

And what about Dean Prentice (1378), or Ron Stewart (1353), or how about James Patrick (1280), or Marc Bergevin (1191)?

Marc Bergevin???

I remember a lot of hockey players, but this guy totally slipped my mind, until I saw him sitting at number 82 on the list.  Is he mostly remembered for his wacky sense-of-humour?

The 60^th overall draft pick of the Chicago Black Hawks in 1983, Bergevin played those 1191 games wearing the colours of the Black Hawks, (when they still went with Black Hawks, not Blackhawks), the Islanders, Whalers, Lightning, Red Wings, Blues, Penguins, Tampa again, and finally the Vancouver Canucks.

Reminds me of Mike Sillinger, who recently retired after putting 1049 on his NHL clock, playing for a record 12 different NHL franchises over 18 seasons.

Again, only 238 NHL players have reached the 1000 game mark, and Marc Bergevin and Mike Sillinger are two of them?  No offense intended to either gentleman, but both their names do not leap-to-mind when I think of long careers.

But I am wrong.  Very wrong.  Other foot soldiers that dodged bullets and made their Grand Mark on the game include Derian Hatcher, Curtis Leschyshyn, Gaetan Duschesne, Don Lever, Todd Gill, Dallas Drake, and Tie Domi?

Tie Domi got into 1020 NHL regular season games.  How did he manage that?  The dude could skate, and he had better hands than most enforcers.

Sitting at number 238, as of the day I checked the list, right on 1000 games, is Hockey Hall-of-Famer Bernie Federko, a magician with the puck during his heyday with the St. Louis Blues.

Mark Recchi of the Boston Bruins leads all active players with 1500 games played, and that’s good for 14^th on the list.  And what a career he’s had.  Think of those early years with the Penguins, and then his point-scoring explosion while a member of the Philadelphia Flyers.  Good enough for the Hall-of-Fame?  He’s at least in the discussion.

A thousand games in the NHL?  That’s an accomplishment to be proud of.

- Mick Kern

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s