Burns plays in 1,000th game.
Defenseman plans to play in a lot more than 1,000 games
Brent Burns joined one of the NHL’s most exclusive fraternities Thursday night when the Sharks entertained the Anaheim Ducks, as the 2016-17 Norris Trophy winner dressed for his 1,000th regular-season game.
Yet, it will hardly be the last time Burns reaches an impressive milestone.
When the Sharks signed Burns to an eight-year, $64 million con- tract extension in November 2016, a deal that would later make him the highest-paid player on the team, it represented a huge commitment from owner Hasso Plattner and general manager Doug Wilson. But it works both ways. Burns will be 40 by the time the deal ends. So while the contract at that point was the longest-ever given out by the franchise, it also represented an obligation from Burns to the organization to stay in the best shape he can for the length of the contract.
“I plan on playing for a long time, and I don’t want it to stop there,” said Burns, who on Thursday played his 547th regular-season game with the Sharks since he came over in a June 2011 trade with Minnesota. “I don’t want to be a participant. I want to contribute and be the best that I can be for as long as I can be.”
Burns, who has played 427 consecutive games going into Thursday, an ironman streak that began in November 2013, is first on the Sharks with 31 assists and
second on the team with 35 points. He’s averaging 23 minutes and 49 seconds of ice time per game, second on the Sharks to fellow Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson (24:44).
In other words, he’s not slowing down any time soon.
“The guy plays a lot of minutes, plays hard minutes, plays in every situation,” said Sharks center Joe Thornton, who will be playing in his 1,523rd career regular-season game Thursday. “One of the most talented players in the league, if not the most dominant. For a guy that likes to play that many minutes, that many games in a row is impressive.
“He works at it. He’s the hardest working guy on the team. He’s out there before practice working, he’s up in the gym. In the summers, he works at it. He’s always tweaking his craft. I’m a huge fan of his.”
Only 327 NHL players have reached the 1,000game mark. Of everyone drafted in 2003, only five other players have reached 1,000 games. Three more, including Anaheim’s Ryan Kesler, could join the club this year.
Unlike a few of those other players, Burns still looks like he’s at the top of his game. He already has played in five NHL AllStar Games, including four straight, and looks like a safe bet to be in his sixth when the game is played Jan. 26 at SAP Center.
“Anybody that plays 1,000 games, you’ve got to share certain things. You’ve got to have a love for the game, a commitment, a dedication, because that’s just a lot of games,” said Wilson, who played 1,024 NHL regularseason games. “I honestly feel like his best hockey’s ahead of him.”
• The Sharks are tweaking their forward lines and are making one lineup change for Thursday’s game, their last at home before they begin a threegame trip against Western Conference teams.
Sharks coach Pete DeBoer moved winger Lukas Radil to the top line with center Logan Couture and Timo Meier and had Joe Pavelski on a line with Thornton and Marcus Sorensen.
The third line featured Tomas Hertl at center with Evander Kane and Kevin Labanc on the wings and the fourth line featured Barclay Goodrow with Joonas Donskoi and Melker Karlsson.
Radil’s play of late warranted more ice time than the 10:11 he has averaged in 13 games this season. Mixed in with solid possession numbers, Radil had at least one point in five of his last eight games before Thursday,
“When you keep putting a guy out there and he keeps getting good things done, you eventually have to reward them,” DeBoer said.
But just as much as DeBoer wanted to give Radil a chance to earn more responsibility, he also wanted to give the Sharks a deeper look down the middle.
When he has been healthy, Hertl has been exceptional this season with Couture and Meier as his linemates. But he also is capable of centering his own line.
On Dec. 13 against the Dallas Stars with the Sharks failing to generate many scoring chances, DeBoer separated Hertl and Couture for the third period, with Hertl playing the middle with Kane and Karlsson.
The Sharks created multiple high- danger scoring chances in the period and won the game 3-2.
“I know we’re playing a ( Ducks) team that’s very deep down the middle,” DeBoer said. “To be able to stick Tommy Hertl in the middle is a luxury for us. Hopefully it works and we can continue on with it.”
• Defenseman Tim Heed, who played 17:09 against Arizona on Sunday as Erik Karlsson served the first game of his two-game suspension, is out with an upper body injury that he suffered against the Coyotes. Joakim Ryan is back in the lineup for the first time since Dec. 1 and will be paired with Brenden Dillon.
• The Sharks will travel to play Edmonton on Saturday, Calgary on Monday and Colorado on Jan. 2.