In 1997, the Ottawa Senators drafted Marian Hossa 12th overall. He went on to play 467 regular season contests for them before he was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers for Dany Heatley.
Hossa has now played 468 regular season games for the Chicago Blackhawks, who acquired him after stints in Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Detroit.
Of course, this all goes out the window once you include playoff games – Hossa played 51 for Ottawa, and more than double that with 103 for Chicago – but most teams aren’t as lucky or talented to go as deep in the playoffs as the Blackhawks have been this decade.
Everyone has the chance to play 82 regular season games, though, so Hossa playing more of those for the Hawks than the Senators does have some meaning to it. He didn’t come to Chicago until he was 31 years old, but he’s now officially been a Blackhawk more than anything else.
His scoring still has a couple of points to go before it catches up, however. In his 467 games with Ottawa, Hossa scored 188 goals and 390 points. In 468 games with Chicago, he has 162 goals and 375 points.
The points, he’ll probably pass this season; the goals, maybe the next. Hossa has a long and storied career, though, and he’ll definitely be remembered first and foremost as a Blackhawk.