On Saturday, Erik Johnson played his 1,000th NHL game, becoming the 403rd player in league history to achieve the milestone. Johnson, who played 717 games over 13 seasons with the Avalanche and won the Stanley Cup in 2022, will have his milestone celebrated with the Avs in attendance before they face Johnson’s Flyers on Monday.
In addition to the regular-season games he played with the Burgundy and Blue, Johnson wore an ‘A’ for six seasons and appeared in 55 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Johnson was selected No. 1 overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft and began his NHL career in the 2007-08 season. After playing parts of three seasons with the Blues, Johnson was traded to the Avalanche on February 19, 2011, along with Jay McClement and a 2011 first-round draft pick for Chris Stewart, Kevin Shattenkirk, and a 2011 second-round pick.
Fast forward 11 years and Johnson, the longest-tenured Avalanche at the time, was the first player after Gabriel Landeskog to hoist the Stanley Cup.
After the 2022-23 season, his 13th with the team, Johnson’s time with the Avalanche came to an end, as he signed a one-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres in free agency. On March 8, 2024, the Sabres dealt Johnson to the Flyers, and Johnson signed a one-year deal to stay in Philadelphia for the 2024-25 season.
Ahead of their game, the Flyers played a montage celebrating Johnson that included messages from some of his former teammates including Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen, Devon Toews, Samuel Girard, and Logan O’Connor.
After another montage showing his career highlights and listing his accolades, Johnson was joined on the ice by his parents, Bruce and Peggy Johnson, before receiving several commemorative items.
Johnson was presented with a framed graphic and a trip to Napa, California, from Landeskog, a Rolex from his Flyers teammates, a crystal from Flyers President Keith Jones, and a silver stick, something that every player who reaches the 1,000-game milestone receives, from Flyers General Manager Danny Briere.
After the Avs’ 3-2 win over the Flyers, Makar, who called Johnson a “true mentor” in the montage, said it was cool that the Burgundy and Blue were able to be in attendance to celebrate Johnson’s milestone.
“[It was] awesome to see him,” Makar said. “Always such a good friend. Happy for him. 1,000 games [is] obviously an amazing accomplishment and wish him the best the rest of the year here.”
Avs Head Coach Jared Bednar also noted how the schedule worked out with them being able to be in attendance for the ceremony.
“It’s good for EJ,” Bednar said. “He gets to see some of his old buddies. It’s good for our guys to see EJ. It’s a big, huge milestone. It’s not easy to get there, for sure, and especially when EJ went through some injuries and some down times. It took him a little longer than probably what he would have liked. But [to] hit that milestone with some of his old buddies in the building, and his old team in the building where he spent most of his career, I think [that’s] pretty special.”
