Through the highs and lows in the past 15 years with the Edmonton Oilers, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been through it all. Now, he'll get his well-deserved salute for playing 1,000 games in the NHL.
Sunday night against the St. Louis Blues, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will play his 1,000th career game, all of them for the Edmonton Oilers. So Oilers fans who have tickets for the game, here's the assignment: Cheer your butts off. Standing ovation, the whole deal.
Nugent-Hopkins deserves that. He never abandoned you. He never left. He never complained. And he never created any drama.
One of the lowest-maintenance players you'll ever find was steady and unwavering in the bad old days when the Oilers couldn't get out of their own way.
To play a thousand games in the best league is an enormous achievement by any standard. To do it with the class and integrity Nugent-Hopkins has exhibited since being the first overall pick in the 2011 draft is even more impressive.
Watch today's video column up above for more.
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