1,000 NHL games is a grand in more than slang. It's a big deal for hockey players, who remember having seen that milestone. Mike Sillinger recalls, for instance, being at Paul Coffey's 1,000th and what a ceremony it was and what an honor it was for Coffey--and for everybody who was on the ice with him.
So Sillinger is both humble and excited about his 1,000th Thursday. He's not a Hall of Famer like Coffey, but he has worked hard enough and played well enough to stay around that long, which says a lot about him.
The Islanders hope recent form holds. Last week, two other players had productive nights on their 1,000th for the Canadiens. Bryan Smolinski, the former Islander, assisted on Mikhail Grabovski's first NHL goal last Monday. And Alex Kovalev scored a goal in his 1,000th game Friday. Both were Canadiens wins.
Islanders players look up to Sillinger, but the coaches point out that he isn't on the team just for leadership and inspiration. He's here because they team sees him as one of its most productive guys.
Comments (8)
I remember when Keenan was hired by the Canucks to clean house. He got rid of Linden, Sillinger and Gelina.
Sillinger and Gelina were my two favorite players, Linden wasn't. The Canucks later traded to get Linden back.
I know there is bad blood here about Linden, but again I think he was hyped up to be something he is not.
Kevin T.
Congrats Mike. I'm no Islanders fan, but saw most of the home games during the 91-92 Adirondack Red Wings season when Sillinger notched a bit better than a point per game during the regular season and the team went on to win the Calder Cup. Mike's been a class act from even his early days.
Great accomplishment for a true professional. I know some of you are down on his production so far this year, but there's still very few others in the entire league that you'd want taking a crucial draw late in an important game.
I guess I've seen about 15-20% of Sillinger's games. I never really took notice of him until he became an Islander. It didn't take long to become a fan of the guy, though.
He's a tremendous hockey player. I don't think the Isles would have had the success they did last year without him. I think Hunter is a better player becasue of him, and the team is just that, a TEAM becasue of him.
GMs always try to find that kind of guy.... I wonder why he has moved so often. I, for one, hope he has the opportunity to retire in the white, orange and blue.
The fact that Smolinski ("SMOKE"...HA!... MM...giving up on darius... grumble... did I say FLAWED in the other thread... this is EXACTLY what I meant...) played his 1000th game is more a testament to the thinning talent level of the NHL... sorry... just thought I'd throw that in there.
CONGRATS MIKE! and THANKS!!!
i too saw him alot in Glens Falls in his AHL days and he was great. I always rooted for him after that. That Glens Falls team pumped out a bunch of great NHLers back in the day. Shame there's no hockey there at all now...
The Isles are advertising that it is Sillinger's 1000th game and to celebrate, we are selling tickets for 50% off. LOL!
I don't get the joke. They want to fill the building for him. Yeah... I guess it's unfortunate that thay don't sell out a Thursday night game in November against Tampa Bay, but that's just a reality... and it is a pretty cool gesture for the front office to go against policy to fill it up for Sillinger.
Now... if they can't get 14-15k with 1/2 price tickets on the market... that would be another sad reality... let's hope that doesn't happen.
Rangers didn't even come close to selling out their last game against Tampa. If you watched there were TONS of empty seats even with all the corporate season ticket holders. I wouldn't worry about it during the week.