The problem with NHL ironmen

Chasing records of longevity often puts immense stress on NHL franchises.

Video Transcript

JUSTIN CUTHBERT: Other big news on the ice this week-- Keith Yandle set the record for consecutive games played, appearing in his 965th straight game. Now I don't want to rain on his parade here. This is an incredible accomplishment, kudos, hats off, all of that.

But I do not think that it's a coincidence that longevity, or the extremes when it comes to longevity-- I'm not talking about Patrice Bergeron being a good player for a very, very long time-- this like, the Iron Man chases, and trying to take down legends in terms of consecutive games, or total games played-- this sort of like, animal, I guess, for lack of a better term-- it doesn't mix well with team success.

There is something inherently selfish about pushing for these records, which is completely and totally ironic, given that availability and dependability and consistency-- those are the hallmarks of what makes a good teammate. But it's this weird pressure thing, right, when an Iron Man streak is in reach. It puts pressure on organizations.

It put pressure, with Yandle previously, on the Florida Panthers-- who, if it were up to them, or at least up to the coaching staff last year, Yandle wouldn't have set the record earlier this week for consecutive games played. What saved, or prevented that from happening, was the public relations aspect of, do you really want to be the coach that makes sure that this guy doesn't set this record?

The Panthers wanted to scratch him at the beginning of last season, caved to player or public pressure or a combination of the two. Yandle stayed in the lineup all season, until the playoffs rolled around, when Joel Quenneville-- who's the coach at the time-- could scratch him without a regular season record being impacted.

So he was scratched for the playoffs. He was bought out in the off-season, because that was a way from getting around this problem. He winds up in Philly. And he sets the record for a team with nothing to lose and no other reason not to let a player set a record, because they're just not good enough to compete on a nightly basis.

It doesn't really matter that they have what is probably a defenseman who can't contribute on a really good top-6 for a really good team on their roster. The same thing happened in Toronto. Fewer cold tubs between periods, or at least like one appearance total, minimum, in the press box, probably could have helped Patrick Marleau a little bit. But he wanted to catch Gordie Howe, which he did at the end of last season, not for the Maple Leafs.

And Mike Babcock, coach at the time for the Maple Leafs, respected that. And Marleau stayed in the lineup when load, management, rest, whatever you want to call it, probably could have helped a player that had played so many games, had so many miles on the odometer, and wasn't playing at the level he should have.

He stayed in the lineup in Toronto until the Leafs ran out of money and needed to pay a first-round pick, just to get rid of him, again, in the off-season so that no chase for Gordie Howe or Iron Man streak would be impacted at all. Pressure, man. There's pressure on these organizations in these situations.

Interestingly enough, there's another Iron Man waiting in the wings. Phil Kessel is only 25 games behind Keith Yandle, these streaks happening concurrently. He's racking up games. He has shown no signs of slowing down. But he's doing it in what's essentially hockey obscurity.

The thing is, though, is that Kessel is expected to be dealt either at the deadline, or will probably move in the off-season, because he's on the final year of his deal and a pending free agent. So will suitors for Kessel, either now or in the summer, need to worry about him potentially being inflexible about making the lineup, if it's deemed that like a little rest or someone else being in the lineup would be better for the team.

We shall see. For Yandle, though-- like, again, I don't mean it as a slight. You know, I do believe at like-- at least his previous salary, when he was with Florida, and a team that really was trying to get over the hump-- that he couldn't be a part of that team if it was trying to be, or trying to reach optimization. It just wasn't going to work.

But now that he was forced to move on, why not go for the record? Pull in money from Florida and from Philly, and enjoy what will be your legacy, probably, in the NHL. I'm just saying that teams have to be aware. Because the PR story, that's like an intriguing thing. It's something you can-- something you can fill the content space with.

But when you're really trying to win, it can get in the way of things. These things often can't coexist with winning, which is, again, a little ironic given that this is what makes a good teammate, or at least the first step in the roadmap to becoming a good teammate.