Luck and dedication underscore Yandle’s chase of ironman record
Keith Yandle has played 1,032 NHL regular season games, the last 922 of them consecutively. He was a year old when a guy named Doug Jarvis, then with the Hartford Whalers, didn’t suit up for a game in Chicago in Oct. 1987, thereby ending the NHL’s longest ironman streak at 964 games.
If all goes according to plan – and that plan, would have to include a lot of luck – Yandle would be suiting up to break that most honored of NHL records on Jan. 23, 2022 at the Wells Fargo Center in a game against Detroit. Now that he’s a Flyer, has he thought about that much?
“Honestly, throughout the whole process, even the way I live my life, it’s just one day at a time,” said Yandle, who Wednesday made official a one-year, $900,000 contract with the Flyers. “I just focus on that day. I don’t get too ahead of myself.”
The veteran defenseman was often ahead of the competition on both ends of the ice. Yandle, 34, was among the premier two-way blueliners in the league for a lot of
years. Over all those games, he has scored 102 goals and an even 600 points. What he hasn’t done is march with a Stanley Cup, his longest postseason run being 19 games with the 2015 Rangers and then-first year Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault.
“It’s one of those things where I’m a team player and it’s all about the team,” Yandle said.
Yet he’s only too aware of what it means to be in this position in a league where salary cap realities don’t favor veteran players, where injuries are a daily concern, and in a time where coronavirus continues to impact the sports world.
“Obviously, a lot of luck,” Yandle said in describing his streak. “Great trainers, good doctors, everything the NHL provides us. I think it’s just my love for the game as well. I love coming to the rink. I love going to practice, games, being at the rink. It’s the best job in the world.
“I’m blessed to be able to not only just play one game in this league, but I got my 1,000th game last year. To play a bunch in a row is definitely something I take pride in, but it’s just one of those things you got to see how the next day comes.”