Jets celebrate Stastny for playing his 1,000th NHL game

The Winnipeg Jets went all out celebrating Paul Stastny's 1,000th NHL game Tuesday.

Members of the Jets donned No. 1,000 jerseys for warmups, and Winnipeg gave Stastny a slew of gifts before he played in his milestone game against the Vancouver Canucks.

Stastny has played for the Jets, Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights and St. Louis Blues. He became the first member of the famous Stastny family to play 1,000 NHL games and the first member of the Jets organization to receive the customary silver stick for playing that many games.
Stastny's wife Haley and kids Draper and Riley were on hand to celebrate the special night, and the kids received mini silver sticks to commemorate the occasion. They were among the only non-players in Winnipeg as the Jets have played all season without fans due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and they made sacrifices to be at Bell MTS Place for Stastny's big night.
"It just makes me happy, more than anything that my kids got to be there and my wife," Stastny said after the game, a 5-0 Jets win. "For the Jets to be able to pull it off and my wife and the kids sacrificed; they didn't go to daycare for 10 days. They hunkered down - super paranoid - just because they wanted to make this night special. They've all been tested multiple times and they ended up never complaining, so I'm happy that it's over with and they got to be part of it."
Paul's dad Peter and mom Darina recorded a congratulatory message from Slovakia as part of a career montage for him. Stastny appeared to get emotional seeing the highlights and well-wishes from peers and former teammates such as Gabriel Landeskog, Max Pacioretty, Alex Steen and Tyler Bozak.

"It was emotional," Stastny said after the game. "I think I got watery eyed. I knew I would whenever my parents praise me. ... Any time they are proud of me, it makes me feel special. It makes me feel good."
Aside from the silver stick, the Jets gave Stastny a custom piece of art commemorating his career. Jets coach Paul Maurice then started Stastny and moved him to center from his customary spot on left wing to let him take the opening faceoff. He skated the first shift on a line with Blake Wheeler and Nate Thompson, who rank No. 2 and No. 3 on the Jets in career games played.
"Each one of those fellows, by position, were games leaders," Maurice said. "It's [Stastny's] 1,000th game. That's a big deal, and you want to share that with people. ... So I just went in and said all of the guys that are games leaders by position would stand at the blue line, and it would make it a moment that was special for him."
Stastny admitted he was anxious for the milestone game and compared his excitement to that of a Stanley Cup Playoff game.
"It feels like that first playoff game or first NHL game or first regular-season game," he told TSN during the first intermission. "I get all these butterflies, and you want to get it over with."
NHL.com independent correspondent Darrin Bauming contributed to this report.