Across the entire history of the national hockey league, roughly 7,500 skaters and goaltenders have suited up for at least one regular season game. Less than 400 have reached the coveted status of earning the Silver Stick: 1,000 or or more career regular season games played.
Former Flyers defenseman Luke Schenn, now with the Nashville Predators, is the most recent player to join the Silver Stick club. Schenn became the 395th player in NHL history to achieve that milestone. Vancouver Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers recently played his 999th game. Assuming he suits up against the Flyers in Saturday's home opener at Wells Fargo Center, Myres will become No. 396 in the Silver Stick circle.
Current Flyers defenseman Erik Johnson is one of two active players for whom the 1,000th game milestone looms in the near future. Calgary Flames center Mikael Backlund is six games away.
Johnson, meanwhile, has 991 NHL games to his credit. Several injuries, the 2012-13 half season lockout and the shortened 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons during the Covid pandemic have delayed the path of the 2006 first overall draft pick (St. Louis Blues) to the precipice of earning his Silver Stick.
One of the sport's most cerebral and articulate players, Johnson reflected before the season about what the Silver Stick means to him.
"It's not something you ever contemplate when you're a young player. It's also not something that's something you think about in real time. That said, it's a huge honor when you can take a step back. Not a lot of players reach it, and everyone who does has a unique path," Johnson said.
"It was not specifically for the 1,000 games but I never thought about retiring after last season. Even if I had a thousand games, I'd still have wanted to come back for another year, One thousand games means a lot, but with playoff games, I'm already over 1,000 games. If not for injuries, I'd already be over 1,000 (regular season) games. It means a lot but, more than that, I still love to play the game. I'd love to play as long as I can."
Depending on how frequently Johnson dresses for games in upcoming weeks, the NHL could be up to its 399th Silver Stick attainee by mid-to-late fall.
Flyers Alumni president Brad Marsh, who played 1,086 games as a defensive defenseman in his NHL career with the Flames, Flyers, Maple Leafs, Red Wings and Senators, said longevity is the greatest individual reward for players who do not post fancy statistics.
"Putting on the uniform and playing the game in the National Hockey League is an honor. Of all the people who play hockey and dream of playing in the NHL, only a fraction make it. And then how many last to 500 games. 800 games, 1,000 games or more. It's humbling,honestly," Marsh said.
During Marsh's playing days, the NHL did not award an actual silver stick to players who reached 1,000 games. It was more of a pension-related plateau as well as a badge of personal pride.
In 2019, the members of the Flyers Warriors veterans hockey program thanked Marsh for his tireless coaching and advocacy work on their behalf. At the team Christmas party (held at Brad and wife Patty's house), the players surprised Brad with an engraved silver stick of his own. The gesture brought tears to "Marshy's" eyes.
That special moment encapsulated just how much playing in 1,000 NHL games means to the small fraction of current and retired players to earn that achievement.
