Jarvis' streak began on the night of his NHL debut on Oct. 8, 1975 and ran for 12 years through Oct. 10, 1987. After 35 years, Yandle will match the record on Monday and then break the mark the next night when the Flyers visit the New York Islanders.
Unlike Jarvis, Yandle's still-active streak did not begin on the night of his NHL debut with the Phoenix (now Arizona) against the Calgary Flames on Oct.24, 2006. Rather, it was in his third pro season, on March 26, 2009, when the Coyotes hosted the Edmonton Oilers that Yandle played the first game of the streak of not missing a single game for 13 years.
A three-time NHL All-Star Game selection -- twice with the Coyotes and once with the Florida Panthers -- Yandle himself has publicly downplayed the streak for years.
"I take pride in being able to come to the rink and play every day, but there's been a lot of luck that's involved. I've said this many times. I would have been happy just to play one game in the NHL. I never take that for granted and I never look past the next game. It's a cliche to say one day a time, but that's how I approach it. I never want to miss out if I can play. There's definitely been times where maybe I might have been banged up and sitting out would make sense, but I convinced myself I'd be able to go," Yandle said in Sept. 2021.
Yandle has been fortunate enough in his career to avoid major injuries. He's had all the usual bumps and bruises and periodic minor illnesses of any hockey player, but nothing serious enough to force him out of the lineup.
The closest Yandle came to having to sit out, injury-wise, came in Dec. 2016 as a member of the Florida Panthers. Yandle took a slap shot off his foot in a game against the Boston Bruins (game 577 of the streak) and was initially predicted to be out of the lineup for multiple games. Instead, he managed to keep playing. The offensive defenseman finished the season with five goals and 41 points. The next year,
In 2020-21, Yandle had a down season for Florida. He ended up dressing in every regular season but was ultimately a coach's decision scratch by Joel Quenneville in the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, regular season and playoff records -- including consecutive games played -- are separated by the NHL. Thus, Yandle's streak remained alive.
Now a veteran of 15-plus pro seasons and a total of 1,073 regular season NHL games, Yandle is on a one-year contract with the Flyers worth $800,000. He signed the deal on July 28. 2021. Always a well-liked and respected figure among teammates and coaches, Yandle has long been particularly close friends with Kevin Hayes.
Yandle's 2021-22 season in Philadelphia got off to a promising start with five points (0g, 5a) in the first three games. From shortly thereafter, the campaign has been a struggle for the veteran player himself and the team as a whole.
Even amid COVID-19 outbreaks on the team, Yandle has managed to avoid situations -- such as the one that ended Ivan Provorov's 403-game Ironman streak from the start of his career until having to enter COVID protocol -- that would have forced him to miss time.
Yandle is one of three still-active NHL players who have played in more than 900 consecutive NHL games The others are Phil Kessel and Patrick Marleau. Back in Jan. 2018, Andrew Cogliano's streak of 830 straight games played from the start of his career ended due to a two-game NHL suspension stemming from an interference-related infraction against Adrian Kempe of the LA Kings.
By way of comparison, below are the longest Flyers-specific ironman streaks in franchise history:
Rod Brind'Amour: 484 games.
Ivan Provorov: 403 games (8th-longest in NHL history from start of a career)
Claude Giroux: 328 games
John LeClair: 317 games
Jeff Carter: 296 games
Jakub Voracek: 286 games
Bobby Clarke: 276 games
