Keith Yandle has reached yet another significant ironman streak milestone.
The popular Florida Panthers defenceman suited up for his 800th consecutive game Tuesday night, becoming just the fifth player in NHL history to do so.
Yandle hasn’t missed a regular-season contest since March 22, 2009 — he even suited up for 84 games in 2014-15 after being dealt from the Coyotes to Rangers mid-season.
The 32-year-old is the first player to hit the 800 consecutive games plateau since Andrew Cogliano surpassed the mark back in 2017 when he was a member of the Anaheim Ducks. Cogliano’s streak ended at 830 games early in 2018 when he received a two-game suspension for an illegal hit.
The great Doug Jarvis holds the all-time record with 964 consecutive games. In fact, Jarvis didn’t miss a single game during his entire career, which began in 1975 and ended in 1987.
Coincidently, Tuesday marked the 44-year anniversary of the beginning of Jarvis’s record streak.
Garry Unger played 914 straight games from 1968-1979. He and Jarvis are the only two whose respective streaks exceeded 900 games. Steve Larmer’s 884-game streak, the third-longest in NHL history, ended in 1993 due to a contract dispute.
Yandle hasn’t merely proven over the years to be durable. The Boston native has been among the most talented, consistent and underrated blue-liners of the salary cap era.
In the past decade, Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns are the only defencemen with more points than Yandle.
Free agent Patrick Marleau (788 games) and Coyotes winger Phil Kessel (776 games) have the next two longest active ironman streaks going.
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