NHL’s ironman Doug Jarvis passes the torch, record to Keith Yandle
For Doug Jarvis, there has been no obsessive game-by-game count or tracking of the milestones as Keith Yandle closed in on his all-time mark for consecutive games played.
It’s one of hockey’s celebrated records – a sport whose warriors pride themselves on playing through blood, battered bodies and broken bones, without whimper or in search of sympathy – that is as impressive and talked about as many of the 61 held by No. 99.
His 964-game streak spanning 1975 to 1987 – perfect attendance through parts of 14 seasons – has stood the test of time, leaving Jarvis with the title of “NHL ironman” for the last 35 years.
Until this week.
Yandle can match Jarvis at 964 games on Monday night when his Philadelphia Flyers host the Dallas Stars and set the new ironman mark of 965 on Tuesday night against the New York Islanders.
“You know, my emotion is I’m just happy for him,” Jarvis told Daily Faceoff by phone on Sunday afternoon. “A lot of people have said to me ‘That record will never be broken.’ And I’m like ‘Why won’t it be?’ I’m really surprised that it’s been 35 years.
“I don’t know, I just enjoyed playing the game. I wanted to play every game. And before I knew it, they added up and I’m kind of like, ‘Well, why can’t that happen for anyone else?'”
Jarvis, now 66, figured this might be the year with Yandle and Phil Kessel in striking distance. If not them, then it really might never happen considering no one else is really close.
“I think Patrick Marleau might have broken it this year, too, if he had signed somewhere,” Jarvis said.
| Active Ironman Streaks | ||
| Player | Games | Start |
| Keith Yandle, Philadelphia | 963 | March 26, 2009 |
| Phil Kessel, Arizona | 940 | Nov. 3, 2009 |
| Brent Burns, San Jose | 639 | Nov. 21, 2013 |
| Clayton Keller, Arizona | 330 | Oct. 5, 2017 |
| Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton | 321 | Oct. 24, 2017 |
| Kyle Connor, Winnipeg | 302 | Dec. 5, 2017 |
Marleau ended last season at 910 consecutive games played after setting the NHL’s all-time record with 1,779 games played. But Kessel passed Marleau this season and Yandle had a few months’ head start on Kessel.
Yandle’s run began on March 26, 2009. The previous game, he was a healthy scratch by head coach Wayne Gretzky playing for the then-Phoenix Coyotes. He hasn’t come out of the lineup in the near 13 years since.
Put in perspective, Yandle was 22 then. He is 35 now. The streak that spans 4,687 days has survived bumps and bruises, five coaching changes, one trade, one lockout and two free agent signings along the way.
There have been some close calls.
Joel Quenneville nearly made him a healthy scratch to begin last year’s shortened season with the Florida Panthers but thought better of the idea. Yandle was then made a healthy scratch during the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year, which did not impact the streak, since it only counts regular season games.
Yandle said he has not once lobbied to stay in the lineup to keep the streak alive.
“That’s not my job,” Yandle told Philadelphia reporters. “Every guy wants to play in every game. I’ve never been a guy to mention it to a coach. Not one player is bigger than the team. I just hope to be in the lineup every day and help my team.”
Scratches are one thing, but COVID-19 brought a whole different meaning to staying healthy in terms of the streak. In Philadelphia, Yandle roomed with fellow Boston native Kevin Hayes, also a former teammate with the Rangers, and Hayes tested positive just before Christmas.
Nearly 75 percent of the NHL has been infected with COVID-19 this season alone – and Yandle has somehow managed to avoid it and remain in the lineup. Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov had his consecutive games streak snapped recently at 403 because of COVID-19, a run that was already the fourth-longest active streak in the league
“It’s just the times we’re living in,” Yandle told Philadelphia reporters. “It’s stressful for everyone … you don’t want anyone to miss games because of that. I just try to say safe and do my part.”
Yandle has also gotten a little help along the way.
Andrew Cogliano was two seasons ahead of Yandle and well on his way to breaking Jarvis’ mark when he was hit with a two-game suspension that snapped Cogliano’s consecutive games played streak at 830, the third longest ironman streak of all-time. Other than Cogliano, the closest anyone has gotten to Jarvis’ mark was Steve Larmer (884) that ended in 1993, a full season’s worth of games short.
“It’s one of those records that you just, at least for me – I’m just speaking for myself – I don’t feel you can set out to break or pass,” Jarvis said. “There’s so many things. It’s not just injuries. There’s been a number of players that have gotten close over the years that ended apart from injuries.
“For me, I wanted to be in the game. I had a passion to play, I wanted to play and by the grace of god, he allowed me to play a career that was injury free.”
Yandle hasn’t overlooked all that has gone into this week’s crowning achievement.
“At the end of the day, we’re all playing a game we all have dreams of playing growing up,” Yandle said. “I remember [Coyotes teammate] Ray Whitney saying to me: ‘As long as there’s an NHL symbol on your jersey, that means you’re having a good day.’ I don’t take that for granted.”
In a lot of ways, the streak Jarvis put together is a totally different beast. His streak ran from the time he entered the league as a 20-year-old with the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 8, 1975 straight through until he was a healthy scratch with the Hartford Whalers on Oct. 10, 1987. That doesn’t happen often for young players in today’s game; none of Yandle, Kessel or Marleau have gone straight through.
Jarvis did it the hard way. His teams flew commercial, not on chartered flights, and Jarvis didn’t have anywhere near the same access to medical care, proper physical fitness training or equipment that today’s players enjoy.
It’s a different game now, but Jarvis doesn’t take anything away from what Yandle has accomplished. Even Jarvis might blush being called the league’s “ironman” in comparison to goaltender Glenn Hall’s 503 consecutive games played in net without a helmet from 1955-62.
But there’s no asterisk here; there’s no way to glide through 965 straight.
“Not for me, no,” Jarvis said. “You know, I felt very privileged to play the game at the NHL level, put in a career and be able to enjoy other things afterwards. This game is a hard game, it’s a physical game, this game of hockey. To me, as a player, and you wish this for everybody, to play it and get through with good health. Too many of my colleagues have knee issues or hip issues, and frankly, there’s a lot of life left when you’re done playing and you want to have your physical capabilities to enjoy that.”
The hockey lifer Jarvis is enjoying that now, as a senior advisor with the Vancouver Canucks. The funny thing is, Jarvis’ second career in hockey began almost immediately after his ironman streak ended.
Jarvis was 32 when he was made a healthy scratch in Hartford that day in early Oct. 1987, soon then sent down to the AHL’s Binghamton Whalers. Binghamton coach Larry Pleau was called up to coach Hartford a few weeks later, replacing Jack “Tex” Evans. When Pleau ascended, Jarvis hung up his skates and finished the season as Binghamton’s head coach.
Next season began a run of 25 seasons behind an NHL bench, all as an assistant. He helped the Dallas Stars (1999) and Boston Bruins (2011) to Stanley Cups as an assistant coach, on top of the four straight he won as a player with the Montreal Canadiens from 1976-79.
It’s been an incredible hockey life. Jarvis said he planned to reach out to Yandle directly to commend him.
“I’d just say congratulations and well done,” Jarvis said. “I’m really happy for him and the career he is having and it’s great that he’s basically been able to stay injury free through it.”
| NHL Ironman Record Holders | |||
| Player | Games | Start | End |
| Doug Jarvis | 964 | Oct. 8, 1975 | Oct. 10, 1987 |
| Garry Unger | 914 | Feb. 24, 1968 | Dec. 21, 1979 |
| Andy Hebenton | 630 | Oct. 7, 1955 | March 22, 1964 |
| Johnny Wilson | 580 | Feb. 10, 1952 | March 20, 1960 |
| Murray Murdoch | 508 | Nov. 16, 1926 | March 21, 1937 |