Avalanche’s Brent Burns is closing in on more NHL ironman milestones: ‘He’s a warrior’ | Journal
SEATTLE — Brent Burns may soon be the NHL’s all-time Ironman, but he is not indestructible.
Case in point: Burns got hurt earlier this season. Like, actually hurt. Not just a “nicked up” situation.
The Colorado Avalanche kept it private because that’s what NHL teams do with sensitive information whenever they can. And Burns kept on playing, because that’s what he does.
“Our medical guys were like, ‘This is a couple weeks injury,’ ” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “He was like, ‘I’m playing next game.’ That’s just his mentality.”
Burns, who turned 41 years old Monday, played in his 989th consecutive game Thursday night, helping the Avs roll past the Seattle Kraken. That ties Keith Yandle for the second-longest ironman streak in NHL history.
Barring something unforeseen, Burns will play in game No. 990 in a row Saturday night in Winnipeg, which will be tops among defensemen. He’ll hit the 1,000 mark on April 4 in Dallas. And he’ll finish this season with the streak at 1,007 games — 57 shy of Phil Kessel’s record.
“The first thing I think of is you’re jinxing it,” Avs star Nathan MacKinnon said ahead of No. 989 at Climate Pledge Arena. “It’s amazing. I think a big part of it is he’s got such joy every day. He’s a happy person. He’s come to the rink with a great attitude every single day at 40, 41 — however old he is. It’s such an amazing accomplishment. That’s over a decade straight of hockey. It’s amazing and hopefully he keeps it going.”
Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog, left, celebrate with defenseman Cale Makar, defenseman Brent Burns, and center Nathan MacKinnon after scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Los Angeles Kings Monday, March, 2, 2026 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
‘He still acts like he is 15’
As of Thursday night, there were 7,866 forwards and defensemen with at least one NHL game played. Just 5.5 percent of them — 433 — have reached 989 career games under any circumstances.
Burns has done it without missing a single one.
“It’s impressive,” Avs forward Martin Necas said. “He takes care of his body better than anyone else. He still acts like he is 15, so nothing changes in his mind. But obviously, his body ages and he takes care of it really well. He’s a warrior.”
This streak is just part of what is a no-doubt, first-ballot Hall of Fame career. Burns has won the Norris Trophy, the World Cup of Hockey, the IIHF World Championships and the NHL Foundation Player Award for his charitable work.
He is one of the very few who switched positions at the NHL level, and has been a great player at both forward and on defense. There have also been a few characters like him in the history of the sport.
Whether it is that joy MacKinnon spoke of, his legendary storytelling ability, the limitless number of crazy stories he has to tell or his intense commitment to keeping his body intact for this long, Burns’ addition to the Avalanche locker room has been an overwhelming success.
“I feel like that’s not very many for him, if I’m being honest,” Avs star Cale Makar said in jest of Burns’ streak. “It’s only about half of what he’s played, basically. No, I mean it’s pretty incredible. He’s Mr. Consistent, that’s for sure. To be at that high of a level, playing that many in a row, is pretty special.”
Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns looks on during the first period of a game against the Dallas Stars Friday, March 6, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
‘There’s always things to fix’
Burns has been an upgrade on the ice over the recent guys who have cycled through his spot on the depth chart. He has helped galvanize the locker room and played a not-insignificant part in the Avs’ historic 31-2-7 start.
“I think he’s playing really well here,” Necas, who spent parts of three years with Burns for the Carolina Hurricanes, said. “I think he’s making more plays here than he did in Carolina. It was more rimming (the puck out). It’s a little different system for sure. I feel like he’s really good at making those plays. He’s made some nice plays here and is still moving really well.”
The arrival of Burns with a Stanley Cup contender has been a great story. Colorado’s rise to the top of the NHL has been one of the stories of the NHL season.
Burns’ numbers for the entire season are great. Colorado has scored 64% of the goals when Burns is on the ice at 5-on-5, and produced nearly 57% of the expected goals.
He leads the team in time on ice on the penalty kill, just ahead of Parker Kelly and nearly 20 minutes more than Cale Makar for tops among the defensemen.
There have been some bumps in the road recently. He was at fault for a couple of breakdowns in coverage Tuesday night against the Edmonton Oilers that led to goals against.
Colorado’s penalty kill was No. 2 in the NHL before the Olympic break, but the Avs have allowed nine power-play goals in nine games since. Burns has been on the ice for five of them, though that’s only one more than Devon Toews and Cale Makar.
“Obviously, there’s ebbs and flows of the game,” Burns said. “I think there isn’t a game that goes by that you didn’t screw up multiple times. It’s a game where you’re always messing up and you just hope, whether somebody else is covering or (the other team) screws up.
“I had a couple misreads (against Edmonton) where it is tight and then it is in the net. At the start of the year, we weren’t perfect either. You know what I mean? I think that’s how hockey is. There’s always things to clean up, I think. There’s always things to fix. Obviously, you never want to be on for goals against.”
Despite some angst from different corners of the fan base about Burns’ recent play, his overall numbers look pretty much in line with the rest of the season. The Avs have outscored teams 6-3 with him on the ice at 5-on-5 since the break.
Want to go back to include the 15-game rut the club had before the break? Colorado has outscored foes 21-11 with No. 88 out there at 5-on-5 in the past 24 games. His expected goals for percentage is better than every current member of the defense corps except for his partner, Josh Manson, over those 24 contests.
Burns and Manson, sometimes in different ways, do make errors that are more noticeable than those of someone like Brett Kulak. And the combination of Burns’ age and the ironman streak make him a target when someone is looking for nits to pick about the team with the best record in the NHL.
Still one big thing missing from Burns’ resume
Maybe if he didn’t have this streak going, Bednar would have considered giving him a night off at some point this season, right?
“Nope. Not for me,” the coach said. “I like the way he’s been playing. He chips in with all aspects of our game — power play, penalty kill, 5-on-5. He’s still productive. He’s still a hard defender.
“The only thing for me is that you want everyone fresh and rested going into the playoffs, and we’ve got Nick Blankenburg, who I want to get in. You don’t want guys sort of nursing injuries going into the playoffs. If that was ever the case, with a guy like Manson or Burns, I’d think about taking him out. But that’s just not going to happen with (Burns). He’s going to play through everything. He always has and has always been effective. So I’m not really worried about that.”
That answer will probably cause a little angst for some Avs fans.
There is one rather big thing that Burns has not won in his career — the Stanley Cup. It’s a big reason why he signed a one-year deal with Colorado. This could be the best chance he’s had since at least 2016, when he reached the Stanley Cup Final with the San Jose Sharks.
Whether or not he plays next season, and breaking Kessel’s ironman streak is in play or not, is to be determined. For now, Burns is going to keep playing, and he’s probably going to deflect questions about the streak.
There are plenty of other people around him who will talk about it for him.
“It’s incredible,” Bednar said. “I’m always flabbergasted by those stats, because I know how hard it is to stay healthy in this league. When you look at what he’s been able to do and the level he’s been able to play at and the physicality that he plays with, it’s remarkable to me to think guys can play that many games in a row without missing one.”
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