N.H.L.’s Phil Kessel Joins the Pantheon of Sports Durability

The N.H.L. has been disrupted several times since 2009, by labor disputes and a pandemic. But every time Phil Kessel’s team has taken the ice, he has laced up his skates.

On Tuesday night, Kessel, 35, a right wing for the Vegas Golden Knights, played in his 990th consecutive N.H.L. game, setting the ironman record for his league. He bettered the mark of Keith Yandle, set last season. Yandle retired from the Philadelphia Flyers at the end of last season.

“I don’t know. I just try to play no matter what,” he told reporters. “I’ve been fortunate over the years.”

The string included time with the Maple Leafs, Penguins, Coyotes and Golden Knights, whom he joined this season. His career has included two Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh, an Olympic silver medal with the United States in 2010 and exactly 400 N.H.L. goals, with the 400th coming in the ironman record breaker Tuesday night.

Before the streak, he had a successful battle with testicular cancer in his rookie season with the Bruins. Kessel has periodically been the target of criticism that he is overweight or out of shape, an insult more than belied by his on-ice performance and longevity.

Ironman streaks are unusual records, and sometimes considered difficult to break. When one does fall, old-timers often say it will last forever because modern players “aren’t as tough” or “are only in it for the money.”

But such records in a way are more attainable than 762 home runs or 164 rushing touchdowns, which would require sustained brilliance. Of course, to be an ironman you must be good enough to play at the top level for a long time. But beyond that, what’s needed is durability, the determination never to miss a game, luck and perhaps an understanding manager.

Here are the players in the other venerable North American sports leagues with that kind of willpower.

M.L.B.: Cal Ripken Jr.

By far the most famous ironman streak belongs to Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles, who played in 2,632 consecutive baseball games.

Ripken’s record chase in 1995 was followed closely by fans and covered fastidiously by the news media. When he broke the record, he circled Camden Yards, high-fiving fans in a moment often cited as one of the most memorable in sports of the decade, or even the century. It seemed to tell fans that baseball was back after a demoralizing player strike which had ended earlier that season.

President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore were on hand, along with a host of baseball greats, and the news made the front page of The New York Times.

Ripken’s streak was particularly memorable because it broke that of the legendary Lou Gehrig, whose own string of 2,130 games ended only because he was dying of A.L.S., which would come to be known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

N.B.A.: A.C. Green

A.C. Green holds the record, playing in 1,192 straight N.B.A. games. He broke the previous mark of 906 in 1997, surpassing Randy Smith. An A.B.A. player, Ron Boone, played in 1,041 straight, and eventually Green passed that one too.

Green is most remembered for his titles as a role player for the Showtime Lakers alongside Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He moved on to the Suns, where the streak was in the biggest jeopardy. J.R. Reid of the Knicks elbowed Green in the mouth, knocking out two teeth. Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons kept the streak alive by playing Green in a face mask for just a few minutes in a dozen or so games.

When he broke the N.B.A. record, he had moved on to the Mavs. Coverage of the record breaker was not as prominent or laudatory as for Ripken. Many of the articles seemed preoccupied with Green’s self-proclaimed status as a virgin, a bit of trivia that tended to overshadow a solid and tenacious career.

N.F.L.: Jeff Feagles

If you had to guess what kind of player would manage never to miss a game for two decades or more in the brutal N.F.L., you would probably guess kicker or punter.

And you would be right. Punter Jeff Feagles played every game from 1988 to 2010, a string of 352 for the Patriots, Eagles, Cardinals, Seahawks and Giants. The streak ended with his retirement after the 2009 season.

But an impressive honorable mention goes to Brett Favre, who managed 299 straight (297 as a starter) from 1992 to 2010. Quarterback is not only one of the most injury-prone positions on the field, but is often specifically targeted for injury by rampaging edge rushers. “The other team’s quarterback must go down, and he must go down hard,” the Raiders owner Al Davis once said. Favre went down, but always got up again for 18 years.