Tonight Ryan O'Reilly will celebrate his 1000th career NHL game as the Nashville Predators take on the Vancouver Canucks in Vancouver. When general manager Barry Trotz signed O'Reilly to a four year deal on July 1, he cited O'Reilly's vast experience and winning history as a major factor in the decision to bring the Ontario native to Nashville. In his eight games so far with the Predators, O'Reilly has four goals and six points centering the top line.
The past 999 games have brought O'Reilly moments of the greatest success in hockey and some struggles as well. O'Reilly's been an NHL All Star, won the Lady Byng, and hoisted the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2018-19 while receiving the Selke Trophy and Con Smythe for his performance that season as well. That Stanley Cup winning season was also O'Reilly's career best season in which he scored 28 goals and 77 points. He's been a leader statistically and by example on each team he's played with. There were challenges in those 999 games, too. O'Reilly faced criticism for comments he made during his tenure with the Buffalo Sabres and has dealt with a few injuries along the way, most recently in March when he had surgery to repair a broken finger.
Now he is with the Nashville Predators and using what he has learned in his career so far to help shape a locker room with plenty of young players eager to learn the ins and outs of finding success in the league. Head coach Andrew Brunette sees the impact O'Reilly has every day.
"His impact is seen all through the lineup, every day, every practice," Brunette said. "Obviously his career speaks for itself."
"I think the way he prepares, the way he works on his game, how much he loves hockey is contagious," Brunette said.
"He just does everything the right way."
O'Reilly joked after the Predators overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in game 999 Saturday night about reaching this impressive milestone tonight.
"We'll see. I'm walking real safe around the house now and careful as I pick up my kids and stuff," O'Reilly said.
"It's very exciting," he said. "Not just for myself, but for my family and my parents. It's crazy. It's been a long, long road and stuff like that. It's just a chance to kind of celebrate with them."
Game 1000 doesn't mean the end of anything for O'Reilly.
"I still have a lot of hockey left to play. But I think for any hockey player to hit that milestone, that's special," O'Reilly said.
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