It is an accomplishment to play more than 1,000 NHL games in a career, let alone consecutively. But that is what Brent Burns did against the Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon.
“I got another 24 hours to go here, and you never know. I’m not counting on anything yet, truthfully,” Burns said with a giggle after practice on Friday. “I really try not to look too far ahead. I barely know the schedule for the next day.”
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While the 41-year-old veteran may not have had the date circled on his calendar, he understands the importance of the milestone.
“It’s nice, you start thinking about those things, and all the things that people sacrifice along the way, and yourself too. You can’t help but think about those things. A thousand was always big,” Burns said. “When I would start coming up on this one, I never really thought about it, to be honest, until like, maybe 20,30 games. Because I’ve always said, it takes so much luck. That’s why I don’t even like talking about it.”
Luck has been on Burns’ side throughout this stretch. He nearly missed games because he had COVID when the pandemic first began, but didn’t because the league shut down. There were times he was really sick, but the schedule gave him two days off, so he did not miss any games.
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His fortune has come from his competitiveness and endurance. But he credited his coaches for allowing him to achieve his ironman streak, as well.
“That’s partly because of his resume and what he’s done as a player and the stature he has as a player. You never want your top players sitting out if you can help it … So that’s credit to him,” head coach Jared Bednar said.
“But then once this thing takes on, it takes on a thing of its own. Nobody wants to pull Burns out of the lineup and tell him, ‘Hey, you’re gonna rest, because this might be better for our team in the long run.’ I just see him as a guy that, he may have an off game here or there. But he just bounces back the next day with more energy and he’s ready to go again. So he has an uncanny ability to do that. So there’s no use pulling him out of the lineup for any particular reason.”
