When Zdeno Chara entered the NHL the league was still at 26 teams and the Toronto Maple Leafs were still in the Western Conference.
Fast forward 23 season and 1,600 NHL games and Chara is still playing at the highest level and still playing 20+ plus minutes on some nights. The 2011 Stanley Cup champion suited up for his 1,600th NHL game on Saturday night, becoming just the 13th player in league history to accomplish the feat.
On top of being just the 13th player to hit the mark in NHL history, he also became just the 5th blue liner to make the list and they all played against each other at some point in their careers.
Zdeno Chara - 1,600 games
Most hockey fans probably didn’t expect to see Zdeno Chara play his 1,600th NHL game in a Washington Capitals jersey, but stranger things have happened in NHL history. Chara enters his 1,600th NHL game with 207 goals and 665 points, and he’s also picked up 1,983 penalty minutes during his career and is a +296 for his career. His 1,600th NHL game didn’t come against the Bruins, but it did happen to be against the team that drafted him in the third round in 1996.
Ray Bourque - 1,612 games
Ray Bourque spent 1,518 of his 1,612 NHL games with the Boston Bruins and he finished his career with the most points out of the five defencemen to play 1,600 games. He scored 395 goals and 1,506 points with the Bruins, and put up another 15 goals and 73 points in 94 games with the Colorado Avalanche to finish his career with 410 goals and 1,169 points. Bourque won the Stanley Cup once and the Norris Trophy five times during is career. He also finished his career +527 with 1,1141 penalty minutes.
Larry Murphy - 1,615 games
Larry Murphy suited up for more NHL teams than anyone on this list as he played for six different teams over the course of his 21 NHL seasons. Murphy scored 288 goals and 1,217 points, and finished his career +197 with 1,084 penalty minutes. Murphy was also a member of four Stanley Cup teams as he won two with the Pittsburgh Penguins and two with the Detroit Red Wings.
Scott Stevens - 1,635 games
Scott Stevens is one of the hardest hitters in NHL history, so the fact that he played 1,635 games means he terrorized opponents for a very long time. Twenty-two NHL seasons, to be exact. In that span, Stevens scored 196 goals and 908 points, but finished a +395 with 2,785 penalty minutes. Stevens never won the Norris Trophy, but he did win the Conn Smythe Trophy once and the Stanley Cup three times.
Chris Chelios - 1,651 games
Chris Chelios played more seasons than another player on this list and at one point it felt like he was never going to retire. But finally after 26 NHL seasons, at age 48 Chris Chelios called it a career. In his 1,651 regular season games, Chelios scored 185 goals and 948 points, but was a +351 and totalled 2,891 penalty minutes during his career. His trophy case is pretty great, too, as he won the Norris Trophy three times and the Stanley Cup three times.
