Keith Yandle's ironman streak in jeopardy and Phil Kessel is nipping at his heels
For those of you who have been following the NHL's consecutive games played record, better known as the "ironman streak" record, you'll know that earlier this season.
Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Keith Yandle broke the longstanding record of Doug Jarvis (964 games from 1975-1987).
Yandle now leads the field with 988 consecutive games played, stemming back to March 26th, 2009. Well, it would appear as though, unless his health improves, Yandle's ironman streak may soon come to an end. Yandle was absent from practice for the Flyers on Thursday with an illness, according to head coach Mike Yeo.
If that illness happens to be COVID-19, Yandle would have to isolate until he stops showing symptoms and produces two negative tests 24 hours apart to become eligible to play on Saturday. With illnesses, most reports that come out confirming an illness that isn't COVID-19, the report will come out stating that it is a non-COVID related illness. That wasn't the case on Thursday when The Athletic's Charlie O'Connor reported on Yandle's illness.
The most interesting storyline here is that Arizona Coyotes winger Phil Kessel is not far behind Yandle, having played 965 consecutive games, just 23 games back of Yandle.
Obviously, these streaks are important to both Yandle and Kessel. They have both made tremendous sacrifices to ensure that their ironman streaks have remained intact - the most recent of which had Phil Kessel flying with the Coyotes to Detroit, playing one shift, and then hopping on a privately chartered flight and returning to Phoenix for the birth of his child earlier this year. Kessel was right back with the team for their very next game.
With the Flyers not in action again until Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Yandle still has time to recover from whatever is ailing him, so there's no guarantee that his streak will be snapped. We'll just have to wait and see.
| POLL | ||
MARS 31 | 213 ANSWERS Keith Yandle's ironman streak in jeopardy and Phil Kessel is nipping at his heels Will Kessel overtake Yandle for the NHL's longest ironman streak? | ||
| Yes | 99 | 46.5 % |
| No, Yandle will be fine for Saturday | 49 | 23 % |
| I hope so | 44 | 20.7 % |
| I hope not | 21 | 9.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
