The fourth-longest games played streak in NHL history has come to an end via suspension.
Andrew Cogliano of the Anaheim Ducks has been suspended two game for interfering with Adrian Kempe of the Los Angeles Kings Saturday night. Cogliano delivered a late hit that will see the end of his 830-game ironman streak.
Here’s the NHL Department of Player Safety’s reasoning:
It’s a good call by the DoPS. As the video shows, you can see just how late Cogliano delivers the hit on Kempe. So much time had passed, Kempe was not expecting to be hit like he was.
Cogliano has never missed a game in his NHL career since breaking in at the start of the 2007-08 season. Had he remained in the Ducks’ lineup for the rest of this regular season, he would have passed Steve Larmer (884) next month. Anaheim handed him a three-year extension this week, which meant Doug Jarvis’ record of 964 consecutive games played would have been threatened at the start of the 2019-20 season.
So who is the new NHL Ironman? That would be Keith Yandle of the Florida Panthers, who’s played 676 straight regular season games. Right behind him is Toronto Maple Leafs forward Patrick Marleau (669) and Phil Kessel of the Pittsburgh Penguins (655).
All good things come to an end, but it’s too bad that Cogliano’s shot at a tough-to-reach NHL record is ending due to a suspension. Not missing one of 830 regular season games is an impressive feat, and now it’ll be fun to watch Yandle, Marleau and Kessel try and stay healthy to threaten Jarvis’ record.
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.
