NHL’s ironman Doug Jarvis passes the torch, record to Keith Yandle

For Doug Jarvis, there has been no obsessive game-by-game count or tracking of the milestones as Keith Yandle closed in on his all-time mark for consecutive games played.

It’s one of hockey’s celebrated records – a sport whose warriors pride themselves on playing through blood, battered bodies and broken bones, without whimper or in search of sympathy – that is as impressive and talked about as many of the 61 held by No. 99.

His 964-game streak spanning 1975 to 1987 – perfect attendance through parts of 14 seasons – has stood the test of time, leaving Jarvis with the title of “NHL ironman” for the last 35 years.

Until this week.

Yandle can match Jarvis at 964 games on Monday night when his Philadelphia Flyers host the Dallas Stars and set the new ironman mark of 965 on Tuesday night against the New York Islanders.

“You know, my emotion is I’m just happy for him,” Jarvis told "Daily Faceoff" by phone on Sunday afternoon. “A lot of people have said to me ‘That record will never be broken.’ And I’m like ‘Why won’t it be?’ I’m really surprised that it’s been 35 years.

“I don’t know, I just enjoyed playing the game. I wanted to play every game. And before I knew it, they added up and I’m kind of like, ‘Well, why can’t that happen for anyone else?'”

Jarvis, now 66, figured this might be the year with Yandle and Phil Kessel in striking distance. If not them, then it really might never happen considering no one else is really close.

“I think Patrick Marleau might have broken it this year, too, if he had signed somewhere,” Jarvis said.

Marleau ended last season at 910 consecutive games played after setting the NHL’s all-time record with 1,779 games played. But Kessel passed Marleau this season and Yandle had a few months’ head start on Kessel.

Yandle’s run began on March 26, 2009. The previous game, he was a healthy scratch by head coach Wayne Gretzky playing for the then-Phoenix Coyotes. He hasn’t come out of the lineup in the near 13 years since.

Put in perspective, Yandle was 22 then. He is 35 now. The streak that spans 4,687 days has survived bumps and bruises, five coaching changes, one trade, one lockout and two free-agent signings along the way.

There have been some close calls.

Joel Quenneville nearly made him a healthy scratch to begin last year’s shortened season with the Florida Panthers but thought better of the idea. Yandle was then made a healthy scratch during the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year, which did not impact the streak, since it only counts regular-season games.

Yandle said he has not once lobbied to stay in the lineup to keep the streak alive.

“That’s not my job,” Yandle told Philadelphia reporters. “Every guy wants to play in every game. I’ve never been a guy to mention it to a coach. Not one player is bigger than the team. I just hope to be in the lineup every day and help my team.”

Scratches are one thing, but COVID-19 brought a whole different meaning to staying healthy in terms of the streak. In Philadelphia, Yandle roomed with fellow Boston native Kevin Hayes, also a former teammate with the Rangers, and Hayes tested positive just before Christmas.

Nearly 75% of the NHL has been infected with COVID-19 this season alone – and Yandle has somehow managed to avoid it and remain in the lineup. Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov had his consecutive games streak snapped recently at 403 because of COVID-19, a run that was already the fourth-longest active streak in the league

“It’s just the times we’re living in,” Yandle told Philadelphia reporters. “It’s stressful for everyone … you don’t want anyone to miss games because of that. I just try to say safe and do my part.”

Yandle has also gotten a little help along the way.

Andrew Cogliano was two seasons ahead of Yandle and well on his way to breaking Jarvis’ mark when he was hit with a two-game suspension that snapped Cogliano’s consecutive games played streak at 830, the third longest ironman streak of all-time. Other than Cogliano, the closest anyone has gotten to Jarvis’ mark was Steve Larmer (884) that ended in 1993, a full season’s worth of games short.

“It’s one of those records that you just, at least for me – I’m just speaking for myself – I don’t feel you can set out to break or pass,” Jarvis said. “There’s so many things. It’s not just injuries. There’s been a number of players that have gotten close over the years that ended apart from injuries.

“For me, I wanted to be in the game. I had a passion to play, I wanted to play and by the grace of god, he allowed me to play a career that was injury free.”