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News, Blog and GuidesThe Philadelphia Flyers’ Keith Yandle will not feature against the Toronto Maple Leafs, meaning an NHL record streak will end.
Stats PerformUpdate: Apr 2nd, 2022 15:49 EDT
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Keith Yandle’s NHL-record consecutive regular-season games played streak is ending at 989, as the Philadelphia Flyers are making the 35-year-old defenceman a healthy scratch for Saturday’s meeting with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
This will be the first regular-season game Yandle will miss since March 22, 2009, when he played for the Phoenix Coyotes.
Flyers interim coach Mike Yeo said it was an “organisational decision” to not dress Yandle so the team can give ice time to some of its younger players. Philadelphia are 21-35-11 and have already been eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Flyers defenceman Keith Yandle will be a healthy scratch for Saturday’s game against the Leafs, ending his record-setting ironman streak at 989 games, 11 shy of 1000 consecutive NHL games.https://t.co/7o9R5S6qiP
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 2, 2022
Mike Yeo: "No way does this diminish what he's accomplished"
“He received it exactly the way you’d expect Keith Yandle to handle it. Obviously disappointed, which you’d expect from a competitor,” Yeo said.
“My only hope is that he recognises how amazing it is what he’s done. For him, it’s disappointing, no question. No way does this diminish what he’s accomplished. It is remarkable.”
Yandle broke the league’s consecutive games played streak record just over two months ago, surpassing Doug Jarvis’ mark of 964 on January 25. But in the 24 games he has played in since then, the veteran has just one goal and one assist with a minus-16 +/- rating.
Yandle is in the midst of the worst season of his 16-year career with one goal and 14 assists and a league-low minus-39 rating in 67 games.
“I don’t really know if it’s hit me completely,” Yandle said. “I don’t know yet, I don’t know when it will. It’s kind of one of those things during it, I didn’t really try to think about it too much just to kind of go out and play. Maybe now the next day or two it might hit me.
“Obviously something I take a lot of pride in. I’m fortunate to play one game in this league. I say it all the time, I’ve been blessed to be in this league as long as I have. I owe pretty much my whole life to this league. It’s been a great journey too.
