On Tuesday night, Montreal Canadiens veteran Brendan Gallagher will play his 802nd game with the team and enter the top-20 in games played with the storied franchise.
When alternate captain Brendan Gallagher skated with the Montreal Canadiens against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night, it was his 801st game wearing the Sainte-Flanelle. On Tuesday, he'll play his 802nd match and take sole possession of the 20th place in most games play with the franchise, overtaking Jean-Guy Talbot.
Nowadays, playing over 800 games with the same team is already an exploit, doing it in the Montreal pressure cooker is even more impressive. Who would have thought the diminutive winger picked 147th overall at the 2010 NHL draft would end up making such a mark on the team?
The names above Gallagher's in the most games played with the Habs ranking are quite impressive with the top three players being Henri Richard (1,258 games), Larry Robinson (1,202 games) and Bob Gainey (1,160 games).
With 33 games left in the Canadiens' season, Gallagher won't overtake anyone else in that ranking this season, but his next point will be his 447th and it will see him join Doug Harvey in 30th place for most points with the Habs. He won't need much time to get to 29th place either since Max Pacioretty currently has it with 448 points.
Speaking to NHL.com Jean-Francois Chaumont's on the eve of playing his 800th game, Gallagher said he intends to stay in Montreal for a long time, even once his career his done. This is where he's building his family with wife Emma Fortin, and it makes sense since she's a Montreal native. Never one to hog the spotlight, he explained he wouldn't be where he is today without the likes of Brian Gionta and Josh George (he lived with him and his wife Maggie when he first joined the team).
Providing Gallagher is still with the Canadiens next season (there is no reason to believe he won't be) and he stays healthy, he'll have the opportunity to climb up to the 11th place of the most games played with the Canadiens' ranking, overtaking Ralph Backstrom (844), Mario Tremblay (852), Jacques Lemaire (853), Tom Johnson (857), Steve Shutt (871), Doug Harvey (890), Patrice Brisebois (896), Guy Carbonneau (912) and Serge Savard (917).
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