Maple Leafs' Mark Giordano sets painful NHL record
Toronto Maple Leafs veteran defenseman Mark Giordano set an NHL mark for courage and pain threshold.
During Sunday's Leafs contest with the Seattle Kraken, Giordano recorded the 2,045th blocked shot of his career, passing Kris Russell for the all-time NHL lead.
While the NHL only began to keep track of blocked shots in 2005, after 17 seasons of putting his body in harm's way, Giordano certainly earned the honor.
Well-liked in the Leafs locker room, as Giordano approached the league mark, his teammates teased about presenting him with a gold shin pad in honor of his feat. Earlier this week, Giordano told Sportsnet's Luke Fox that he's always had the mentality needed to be an effective shot-blocker.
"I've always tried to take a lot of pride in defending," Giordano said. "Nobody likes getting scored on or pulling the puck out of your net. And I think any time you can help eliminate that by blocking shots and making the right play, try to do that."
Giordano spent the first 15 seasons of his NHL career with the Calgary Flames, a team he captained for eight years. Since leaving ahead of the 2021-22 season, Giordano has made stops in Seattle and now Toronto, where he's in his second season with the Leafs.
This season, the 39-year-old has played 60 games for the Leafs, registering three goals and 18 assists for 21 points.
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