Brent Burns is the second NHL player to participate 1,000 consecutive games

While Lionel Messi’s possible participation in the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026 is a reason for celebrating one of the world’s most accomplished players (specifically in World Cup games), the National Hockey League has just produced another legend as well.

Brent Burns is now only the second player to have participated in 1,000 consecutive games in the league’s history, second only to Phil Kessel, who managed 1,064 consecutive regular-season games. Burns, who currently plays for Colorado in his first season, achieved the milestone on Saturday in the team’s game against Dallas. He will naturally seek to improve on Kessel’s record, although achieving this title could be challenging at the age of 41. Nevertheless, Burns continues to be one of the league's most distinguished and consistently performing players who seems not to be a fixture in every team’s lineup. But this is hardly the only accolade Burns has secured. He is only one of two defenders to have scored more than 11 goals over the age of 40 in a single season. Overall, Burns has more than 1572 regular-season games, making him one of the most experienced players on the ring. But for all the praise his achievement has received, Burns himself has admitted that he has felt overwhelmed at times. His wife, in particular, has been upset with his iron streak, as the media has dubbed it. Opening up about his partner’s struggles with his achievement, Burns stated: My wife sometimes gets mad at me about that. She says, ‘I got to live with you for a long time.’ So yeah, I’m gonna pay for some of this later, that’s for sure. Burns is playing his 1,001 consecutive game today with the Avalanche taking on St. Louis Blues at Ball Arena at 7:30 pm local time.