First class 🏒
Adversity has been a familiar face to Seguin's teammates throughout his 16-year NHL career.
That's why Thursday's 1,000th regular-season game in Tampa Bay is so important.
Seguin, 33, should have passed this milestone years ago. He began his career at the age of 18 when he was selected with the second overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft. He took the game seriously and scored consistently early in his career, winning a Stanley Cup with Boston in his rookie season and then becoming one of the Stars' top scorers after being traded to Dallas.
But along the way, injuries began to pile up. In 2016, his Achilles tendon was severed by a skate blade. He underwent several knee surgeries in 2020 as well as repairs to his hip and groin. Then, last year, after flying out of the gate in his first 20 games, he decided to have surgery to repair his other hip.
That placed him on long-term injured reserve until April. He returned for the final regular season game and 18 playoff games, and he's looked great since but struggled.
“It shows how good of a player he is that he's able to adapt after being in the league for so many years,” guard Esa Lindell said.
Added coach Glenn Gruzan: “Even if you look at him this year, he's played center, wing at different positions, he's helped me a lot.” [Benn] After retiring, he took on a big leadership role in the team and he really helped us get some things done. “
Ben has been sidelined since late September after undergoing surgery to repair a collapsed lung. Duchene, a longtime teammate of Seguin, has been in and out of the lineup after hitting a high shot in his third game of the season. Seguin then had to jump from the wings to center forward alongside Hintz and Mikko Rantanen, replacing Adam Erne and Colin Blackwell. And he excelled in almost every game.
He scored 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) in 10 games, which was less than he wanted, but the team also achieved a record of 6 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss during this period.
“That’s probably a good thing,” Seguin said of the adversity. “You look at the last few weeks, I wasn’t necessarily scoring, but in the past, I might have been frustrated with myself in those moments, but now I’m just happy to be here every day.”
Seguin said he finds joy in the little things, like playing cards on the plane or hanging out with teammates. This speaks volumes about how important 1,000 games is for the veteran striker.
“It’s cool now,” Seguin said of the accomplishment. “Some of the things that happened during this time [past] It's been a few years. It was something I had never thought about before, but it was cool to be there.
“Just different moments over the years, there were times where I didn't quite lock in that I would be back or what I would be left with,” he said. “Now, just staying healthy and contributing in a different way would be great.”