Justin Faulk latest Blue to reach milestone against Maple Leafs, 414th in NHL history; credits mom Gail for, "working multiple jobs and just trying to find ways to support us and give us ultimately everything that she could provide."
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. – The 1K club has become common for the St. Louis Blues in recent seasons, and it also included one (Ryan Suter) who hit the 1.5K club last season.
Justin Faulk becomes the latest to play in 1,000 NHL games when the Blues face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena.
Faulk, 33, follows in of recent teammates to do it, including Brayden Schenn, Nick Leddy and Cam Fowler.
“It’s good. It hasn’t necessarily set in,” Faulk said on Monday. “… We’ve had a few here in the last couple years with Leddy, ‘Fowls’ and ‘Schenner,’ so it’s been fun to experience theirs and now mine to go through it. But ultimately to share that experience with those guys and the rest of the team, I never had that happen. Earlier in my career, I think it took 'Steener' to be honest was when I had a teammate first his 1,000 games. Since then we’ve had a few the last couple years, but ultimately it’s a good experience. It’s fun for the team it seems. I’m excited to share that experience.”
Faulk, acquired along with a fifth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft by the Blues from the Carolina Hurricanes on Sept. 24, 2019 for Joel Edmundson, prospect Dominik Bokk and a seventh-round pick in 2021, will become the 414th player in league history to reach 1,000 games.
A second-round pick by the Hurricanes in 2010, it’s been quote the journey of a 15-year career, including the first eight seasons in Carolina and this his seventh with the Blues.
“I was lucky I got in the league at 19 years old,” Faulk said. “Not too similar to some of these younger guys now. It’s changed a little bit. I think back to the Detroit Red Wings and I’m pretty sure everyone in that organization had to spend a couple years in the minor leagues, right? And so it ultimately seemed like it took a little longer there for guys and we’re a little there on the older side. I don’t think I’m that old yet, but it’s a lot of years. You have to have a lot of things go right to be fortunate enough to be in this situation. Injuries can mount up. We’ve had lockouts, we’ve had COVID, lots of things that can go against a guy from staying in the league for a long time and I think it’s something that I pride myself on a little bit is to try and be healthy and available and be near the top of my game to help the team as much as I can and do it for a long time.
“You see these guys before me that I talked about, even Suter 1,500 games last year, you see how these guys can take care of themselves, the work that they put in and you know it’s not easy. There’s ebbs and flows but they don’t waver from what they do on their preparation on a day to day basis. To be around guys like that and to help pave the way for you and show you how to do it, it’s a treat and it’s been an honor for me to share that experience.”
Faulk will also get to share the experience with his mother Gail King, who raised Faulk and his older brother David after Faulk’s father, Dale, died of a heart attack at age 37.
Gail will be in attendance in Toronto for the special occasion.
“I’ve been lucky to have the support of her and my brother (David),” Faulk said. “He’s always along for the ride and been super-instrumental for me as well. He works a real job. He’s a lineman, he’s building power lines, he’s the one that’s grinding, going on storms, driving across the country. Drive to put power lines after storms to get stuff back up and running for people. He’s doing the real hard work in life. I get to come here. Those two have been great for me.”
From playing at South St. Paul High School in 2007-08 to going to the United States National Team Developmental Program in 2008-09 and navigating his way through the game, Faulk said his mother’s ability to work two jobs to give him the tools and resources needed to make it to the top will always remain the most influential reason why he’s here today.
“Ultimately, it boils down to my mom,” he said. “It’s been well-documented my father passed away when I was young (in seventh grade). She had to raise me and my brother and be there for us and go through that situation. It’s a lot, probably more for her to handle than it was for us, to be honest with you, working multiple jobs and just trying to find ways to support us and give us ultimately everything that she could provide. It taught me how to kind of be resilient in a sense and work hard definitely and know that there could be worse days and you could show up to the rink and kind of move on from things, more on life and kind of move on a little bit more. She’s been the backbone of all of that. That kind of mindset and attitude hasn’t gone away from me at all.”
Faulk, who enters the game Tuesday with 468 points (134 goals, 334 assists), including 49 goals, 161 assists in 440 games in St. Louis, plays the kind of hard-nosed, gritty, grinding, physical style that makes it difficult to reach such a milestone. But here he is, becoming just the 137th defenseman to do it.
“A physical specimen in the sense that he’s so powerful and athletic,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “He skates great, he shoots great, wins 1-on-1 battles all over the ice. He’s someone that has a tremendous impact in the game. He’s played since he was 19 in the NHL. He’s been a big part of what Carolina did and he’s been a big part of the success of the Blues while he’s been here.
“It’s harder than a right winger or a left winger. There’s a lot of guys that have had long streaks here playing games in a row. It’s hard when you play that kind of game to do that.”
Faulk has grown into a leader for the Blues, who love his simple, care-free, doesn’t give a rat’s you-know-what anyone has to say about him. In the offseason, you’ll find him on a lake fishing or hunting, living a simple lifestyle. He was getting duck calls from his teammates in the locker room on Monday prior to meeting the media.
“Amazing. From the first day I’ve been here, ‘Flak’s been someone who’s kind of led the way in terms of showing me what it’s like in the NHL, how you carry yourself as a Blue, as a pro every day, someone who competes very hard for his teammates, just a very respectable guy around the league,” Blues forward Jake Neighbours said. “It’s a great accomplishment. We’re very happy for him. Very fortunate I got to be a part of it.
“He’s a simple guy who likes to enjoy what he does and doesn’t really care too much about what other people think of him. I think that’s one of my favorite part about ‘Flak’ is he’s just unapologetically himself, doesn’t care about what other people think of him, other people’s opinions. He’s himself, comes to the rink with that mindset and performs at a really high level.”
Faulk played 19:43 in his first NHL game on Oct. 7, 2011 against the Tampa Bay Lightning and was a minus-2. He said he, “was horrible (the) first game. First three games I was horrible. I got sent down after that.” But his message for those getting started now to, “just take it in, have fun. I was probably a little uptight, a little nervous. I think most of us are for the first game and ended up playing horribly. Honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing because it taught me how to relax. It gave me a set after a couple of games. Paul Maurice was a part of that. When I got sent down and came back up, he was like, ‘Just relax and play. Don’t worry about that stuff.’ It taught me a lot for the future and when things go wrong, it’s OK. You can get through it. It’s not a big deal. It’s going to happen also and it still happens.”
As for his on-ice accomplishments and reasons he’s made it this far, Faulk credits his former defensive coach/assistant coach with the Hurricanes, Dave Lewis.
“I’ll name one, because if you start naming two, three, you might as well go down the whole list. When I was young, it was Dave Lewis,” he said. “He was my first D-coach in Carolina. He knew how to get me in the right spot, I would say. He pushed me for sure, but he definitely allowed me to be myself and try to learn and to see the game how I saw it to help me grow in this league. He challenged me plenty of times. He let me be myself a little bit, but when I got a little too loose, maybe a little too arrogant or something, he brought me back to square one. He was my first D-coach and we went through a coaching change right away early in my career. Paul Maurice got let go. It was all like just a whirlwind to me. It was like November of my first year. He was there for me for three years and really helped me develop into someone that could play in this league and give me confidence to be not only a player in the short term but a successful and impact player and over the long term.”
The Blues will have a ceremony for Faulk’s accomplishment prior to an upcoming home game. There will be the customary silver stick, and as far as teammates’ gifts?
“I do not know what the boys have in store for me,” Faulk said with a smile. “I’m sure it will be a little unique.”
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