Teammates replicate on approaching 1,500 video games of Anze Kopitar, one other uncommon accomplishment for a particular participant

1,500 Games.

How uncommon is it to see somebody within the NHL play 1,500 regular-season video games?

Well, how about some fundamental math.

There are roughly eight billion individuals on the planet.

Per NHL.com, as of Tuesday, 8,762 individuals have performed in not less than one NHL regular-season recreation. The odds of somebody reaching the NHL? Approximately 1 in 1 million.

Included in these 8,762 are gamers like Angus Booth, Kenny Connors and Jared Wright, who’ve all performed precisely one NHL recreation, which got here for all three gamers on Monday night in Los Angeles. There are lots of people in between Booth, Connors and Wright and Patrick Marleau, the all-time regular-season video games performed chief with 1,779.

But not all that many within the 1,500 membership.

In reality, solely 24 gamers in NHL historical past have performed in 1,500 profession NHL regular-season video games. Soon to turn out to be 25. The odds of a random individual from the world changing into an NHL participant who performs in 1,500 profession video games? Approximately 1 in 350 million.

Now, these 24, to be 25 gamers have gotten to that time in a lot of other ways. Marleau, for instance, did play in 1,500 video games with one franchise – the San Jose Sharks – however he additionally went elsewhere in his profession. Jaromir Jagr, who has performed the fourth-most video games in NHL historical past, did so whereas taking part in for 9 totally different groups. NINE.

Others took a distinct method.

Legendary Detroit defenseman Niklas Lidstrom holds the report for many video games performed with one franchise with out ever taking part in for an additional, with 1,564 regular-season video games. In complete, seven gamers have performed 1,500 video games for one franchise, together with Marleau and Lidstrom. The most up-to-date to take action is the one lively participant on that checklist – Alex Ovechkin. Until tomorrow, that’s.

So. What are the percentages {that a} random individual on the planet wouldn’t solely make the NHL, not solely play in 1,500 profession NHL video games and likewise achieve this with one crew?

Greater than 1 in a billion.

What if we additionally wished to find the percentages of that participant being from Slovenia, a nation that has produced precisely two NHL gamers.

You in all probability get the gist.

Photo by Gary A. Vasquez/NHLI through Getty Images

When the LA Kings hit the ice tomorrow night at Crypto.com Arena, Anze Kopitar will participate in his 1,five hundredth NHL regular-season recreation.

What’s been humorous to me by the second half of his remaining NHL season is the lack of knowledge of simply how uncommon a participant taking part in 1,500 regular-season video games is. There is a ton of protection of Kopitar’s remaining season and his pursuit of Marcel Dionne’s all-time franchise report for factors as a member of the Kings group. And rightfully so. That’s a historic honor, when he will get there. But consider it this fashion. There are 32 franchises and Kopitar will turn out to be simply the twenty fifth participant to achieve 1,500 video games. It’s really rarer to play in 1,500 regular-season video games than it’s to steer a franchise in scoring, which is fairly unimaginable to consider.

“Yeah, it’s crazy, 1,500, I know I’m coming up on 700, I feel like that’s a lot, but you think about 1,500 and that’s a long ways to go,” ahead Adrian Kempe mentioned. “I’ve said this so many times, but how tremendous he is as a player, as a linemate as well, he’s still doing it at 38, it’s really impressive to be out there to still see what he can do.”

You get to a degree the place you simply begin to run out of issues to say.

But one factor that I feel it simple to give attention to is that it’s not accidentally. You can have a look at the maths and break it down as I did above. You can say nicely, somebody out of that pool of individuals has to hit these marks, if that’s what the numbers say. But there’s a purpose it’s Kopitar who received to that time, particularly on the finish of his profession. The work he places in to arrange, preserve and get well every day, to play later in his profession, is one which teammates have seen.

“We’re lucky, we get to see him every day, you see how he treats his body, the recovery he does, his work ethic, what he puts in his body,” defenseman Mikey Anderson mentioned of Kopitar. “It’s impressive to play that many games, but with one team he’s done it and he’s played at a high level for pretty much 1,500 of the. Yeah, it’s really impressive. We’re lucky to get to learn from him, to get to have him here, to have him be a part of our life.”

It additionally doesn’t come with out sacrifice.

Along the way in which, Kopitar has performed by accidents, together with a couple of right here during the last two seasons, definitely. That’s the type of factor that gamers discover. They see when somebody is giving 100%, even after they don’t have 100% to provide. That’s been the case extra usually than you notice in terms of Kopitar. A giant a part of taking part in as many video games as he has.

“It just shows you how big of a warrior he is, he’s played through so many injuries, even in the past two years that I’ve played with him, so I couldn’t imagine [how many] throughout his whole career,” defenseman Joel Edmundson mentioned. “He’s the leader of this organization, everyone looks up to him, it’s just for those small reasons.”

This is sportsmanship 🤝

The @NHLBlackhawks caught round to shake arms with Anze Kopitar in what may very well be his remaining recreation towards Chicago. pic.twitter.com/0tAg5JMjdJ

— NHL (@NHL) December 7, 2025

That’s simply who Kopitar has been.

He is a man who has gone about his profession within the NHL the precise means. He’s by no means actually chased particular person accolades on the expense of crew success. That indisputable fact that he’s amassed 1,300 profession factors, taking part in on a crew just like the Kings, who’ve by no means chased offense whereas he’s been right here, is much more superb. The matchups he’s logged over time, the laborious minutes on the penalty kill, make it that rather more spectacular.

It’s for these causes that Kopitar has usually flown below the radar on a nationwide scale. I imply, the 70-point heart taking part in Selke-caliber protection isn’t going to flash all that always on spotlight reels, particularly when he wins the opening faceoff at 10:30 PM Eastern on most nights. But the extent he’s introduced in Los Angeles, over time, has not often been matched across the league in his time.

His teammates in Los Angeles are pleased that his remaining season, together with milestones like this, are thrusting what he’s completed into the highlight.

“He’s been a guy that is okay staying out of the limelight his entire career, but it means a lot that people are really taking the time to appreciate him as much as we’ve appreciated him his entire career, as long as I’ve been here and I know before that too,” defenseman Brandt Clarke added. “It’s obviously really special, it’s a great milestone for him, he’s just going to play it as another game, because that’s just the kind of person he is, but the fact that he’s kind of closing on all these records and people are actually appreciating him the way he deserves, we like to see that, because that’s what he deserves.”

It is what Kopitar deserves.

And it’s not only for the participant he’s, however the person who his teammates have seen over time as nicely.

The type of man you need welcoming youthful gamers into your group. The type of one that takes care of these round him, generally on the expense of himself. That’s the type of man you need round, for so long as Kopitar has been.

“Obviously he’s an unbelievable player, but he almost a better person,” defenseman Jacob Moverare mentioned. “He’s just such a good person to lean on, with everything. Even things like he lent me his golf clubs when I needed them. It’s stuff like that, that maybe people don’t care about, but he’s just such an unbelievable person. He’s helped me anything he can.”

When Kopitar hits the ice tomorrow, he’ll be part of an especially unique group of gamers and sure individuals as nicely.

Certainly hopeful it’s not the final celebration of a Kopitar milestone this season, however moderately the primary of a number of to come back.

The Kings will honor Kopitar in April 2 for his collective legacy, versus a ceremony for every particular person mark. That’s of his selecting, contemplating the significance of every recreation right here and, frankly, the truth that we’d doubtlessly have three or 4 pre-game ceremonies if not for merging them collectively. Not that it will trouble his teammates, who would seemingly have fun him gladly. But his desire was to have one evening to take all of it in.

One evening, for a participant who has confirmed that the maths of how uncommon he’s can be far to tough to calculate. Easier to only name him 1 of 1. Fitting, for quantity 11 in Los Angeles.

Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI through Getty Images