Red Wings players, coaches celebrate with Marc Staal before his 1000th NHL game

@Marc Staal will become the 366th player in National Hockey League history to suit up for 1,000 career regular-season games his Detroit Red Wings take on the Calgary Flames on Saturday night (7:00 p.m. ET, BSDET).

Staal’s Red Wings teammates and coaches gave him a special welcome to their visiting dressing room at the Scotiabank Saddledome in the hours leading up to Saturday’s game. With everybody wearing special commemorative T-shirts, Staal’s peers lined the hallway leading to the Red Wings’ room and greeted him with a round of applause.

A first-round pick of the New York Rangers back in 2005, Staal played in 892 games with the team between 2007 and 2020 before joining the Red Wings as a free agent prior to the 2020–21 season. The 36-year-old defenseman has racked up 47 goals and 208 points in his first 999 regular-season NHL games.

Staal also appeared in 107 playoff games during his tenure in New York, with 25 of those coming during the Rangers’ run to the 2014 Stanley Cup Final.

Marc will become the third Staal brother to reach the 1,000-game plateau in the NHL, joining Jordan (1,070) and Eric (1,293). Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Staals will be the first trio of brothers to each play in at least 1,000 NHL games (although Marc remains the only one out of the three without a Stanley Cup ring).

Through 51 contests with the Red Wings this season, Staal has one goal and 10 points while averaging 16:48 per game. He’s signed through the end of the 2021–22 season at a $2 million cap hit.

The Red Wings will honour Staal with a pre-game ceremony at Little Caesars Arena after they wrap up their four-game road trip, which will take them through Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Seattle. Their next home game is scheduled to take place on Mar. 22 against the Philadelphia Flyers.

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