George Richards, FHN Publisher
Keith Yandle will extend his Ironman streak to 890 consecutive games Sunday when the Panthers visit Carolina, but he will hit an even bigger milestone as it marks his 1000th NHL game played.
As is the case with the consecutive game streak, Yandle is downplaying the moment although that doesn’t make it any less impressive.
The 34-year-old defenseman will become the 352nd player in league history to reach the mark when the Panthers take on the Hurricanes at 5.
“I’ve always kind of lived my life one day at a time and not really tried to think about stuff too far in advance,” Yandle said Friday afternoon.
“For me, I’m just kind of worried about Nashville, getting ready for that game.”
Despite the well-publicized preseason drama between Yandle and the Panthers, he has been off to a great start and continued to play at a high level offensively.
In Saturday’s 6-2 win at Nashville, Yandle recorded two assists giving him 16 points this season.
Although Aaron Ekblad’s offensive exploits have deservedly been at the forefront of conversation when it comes to the Panthers this season, Ekblad is just one point ahead of Yandle.
Among NHL scoring leaders, Ekblad is tied for eighth among defensemen.
Yandle is one step below tied for 11th.
One of his assists Saturday came on one of his deceptive shots in which he looked to just dump the puck in from inside the line.
Instead, he shot on goal forcing Pekka Rinne to make a play on the puck. Noel Acciari jumped on the rebound and scored his second goal of the game.
“Great career. He is one of those defensemen you think when it comes to influencing the game,” Joel Quenneville said.
“Offensively, his patience and poise … having the puck in the offensive zone, seeing and making plays on the power play especially. But his play recognition for a defenseman is high-end. He is patient and a great passer. He is a great deceiver whether it’s a shot or a fake or a pass. He sees plays and makes plays.
“Defensibly, I think he’s a little underrated. Last year he got off to a great start with us and he’s off to a great start this year. He adds a lot to our team and is a veteran guy who likes where we’re at right now.”
Although Yandle does not talk much about the consecutive games streak or other milestones he may achieve, he certainly takes pride in being in the lineup every night.
And playing 1,000 games in the NHL is a testament to Yandle’s durability.
He is a player teams can count on to be in the lineup night in and night out.
“It’s incredible, truly incredible,’’ Ekblad said. “We have had some great memories together here since he started playing here. Hopefully we can keep him going and hopefully he can play 1,500 games.
“We love the guy here in this room and we’re happy to see him do it, no doubt.’’
Yandle has said in the past that he credits his work ethic and want to be on the ice for not only each game but each practice to his parents.
They never called in sick, Yandle said, so it is not something he would think of doing either.
“I want to be in the lineup and help my team my win,” Yandle said last season.
“My parents went to work every single day and never complained about anything.
“If they were sick or hurting a little bit, they went to work. That showed me, my brother and sister the right way to do things.
“There have been a few times where the decision to play came down to game time, but when it came down to it, I decided to grind it out.”
It is a little funny that his 1,000th game will come in Carolina because it is the place where his Ironman streak — which is now the third-longest in NHL history — almost came to an end.
Last season, he took a puck off his face at PNC Arena, the aftermath leading to intense dental work and oral surgery both at the arena and upon the team’s return to Fort Lauderdale.
After being struck in the face, a hunched-over Yandle skated to the door closest to the locker room leaving a trail of blood — and even some of his teeth behind — on the ice.
Yandle missed the entire second period as he was worked on by the Carolina team dentist but he was back on the ice for the third wearing a full cage on his helmet.
He played eight shifts that period.
“I was surprised to see him come back because it looked so bad,” Ekblad said at the time.
“But at the same time, I was not surprised.”
The Panthers had a game the following night against Buffalo and Yandle spent much of his pregame preparation back in a dentist’s chair in Boca Raton.
He played that game as well.
“What he has gone through over the past 24 hours is pretty remarkable,’’ Quenneville said. “But he’s ready to go.’’
We all know the stories about how tough hockey players are, but in this case, Yandle coming back out to play the next game was truly impressive.
Because it was so painful to speak, Yandle asked if he could do an interview with me via text message instead. He apologized for the request.
That night, Yandle played a game-high 23:38 against the Sabres despite having his jaw wired shut.
Yandle either lost or cracked nine teeth.
“It blew up last night. I didn’t get one minute of sleep,” Yandle texted following that loss to the Sabres. “The teeth were hurting a lot today.”
Friday, I asked him if in Florida’s most recent trip to Carolina brought back any painful memories, if when he walked past the room he spent time getting worked on made him gave him a sick feeling in his stomach.
“Not really,” Yandle said. “You know where it happened, but I try not to think about it too much. Obviously stuff like that happens in a game and you try not to think about it too much.”
Hopefully, nothing like that happens again in Raleigh for Yandle and he can celebrate his 1,000th victory upon the team’s arrival in Columbus.
The team has Monday off, so he can crack open a nice bottle of Scotch, sit back and reflect a little bit.
When the Panthers return to Sunrise, he will eventually be presented a silver stick to commemorate the milestone and his teammates will likely give him some gifts.
At least they know what he likes.
“I am lucky just to be playing in the NHL and calling this a job every day,’’ Yandle said.
“I never really thought I’d even make it to the NHL, so it’s kind of one of those things where I’m just enjoying the ride and enjoying every minute of it.’’