Phil Kessel is drawing praise from the ultimate sports ironman.
The Vegas Golden Knights forward broke the NHL record for consecutive games played on Tuesday when he took the ice in a 4-2 win at the San Jose Sharks. It was Kessel’s 990th straight game, breaking the record of former defenseman Keith Yandle, who set the record last season playing with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Cal Ripken Jr., who played in 2,632 straight MLB games for the Baltimore Orioles from May 30, 1982 to Sept. 20, 1998, took to Twitter to mark Kessel’s achievement.
“Congratulations to Phil. Playing so many consecutive games in the grueling and demanding sport of hockey is remarkable,” Ripken Jr. wrote. “He clearly has a passion for and love of his sport. I’m sure that the Golden Knights and the Las Vegas fans celebrated with Phil and his teammates, way to go!”
Kessel tied Yandle for the NHL record Monday, when he had an assist in a 3-1 home win against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He has not missed a game since Oct. 31, 2009, when he did not play for the Maple Leafs in a 5-4 shootout loss at the Montreal Canadiens because of offseason shoulder surgery.
Yandle’s streak ended at 989 when the defenseman was a healthy scratch for the Flyers in a 6-3 loss to the Maple Leafs on April 2, 2022. His streak started on March 26, 2009, when he played for the then-Phoenix Coyotes.
The third longest streak belongs to Doug Jarvis, who played 964 straight games from Oct. 8, 1975, to Oct. 10, 1987. Gary Unger (914) and Patrick Marleau (910) are the only other two players to have played at least 900 in a row.
Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns has the second longest active streak at 685, dating to Nov. 21, 2013. It is also the only active streak of more than 500 games in the NHL.
Ripken became baseball’s all-time ironman on Sept. 6, 1995, when he broke the record of New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig, who had played 2,130 straight from June 1, 1925 to April 30, 1939.
Kessel is on track to play his 1,000th consecutive game against the Arizona Coyotes in Las Vegas on Nov. 17.
“When you think about it, it’s really incredible,” Golden Knights center Jack Eichel said last week. “You rarely see a guy play the full 82 games for the whole season. And for him to do it for so many seasons in a row, it’s pretty impressive.”
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