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Looking back at Matt Cullen’s 1500th NHL game

Quite an accomplishment

NHL: Florida Panthers at Pittsburgh Penguins Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Matt Cullen played his 1500th game in the NHL last night. It’s really quite striking just how rare and much of a career achievement that is.

Here’s some odds and ends to commemorate the occasion:

Cullen could pass Steve Yzerman (1,514) this season for 19th place all-time. He won’t have the games available to pass anyone else....Unless of course he comes back next year.

The team all warmed up in 7 jerseys:

“It’s such a great milestone. There aren’t too many people that reach it,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think it’s a reflection of his passion for the game, his professionalism. There aren’t too many guys that take care of themselves and train the way he does, and live the way he does in order to give himself the best opportunity to continue to play and sustain his performance.”

There was a pre-game celebration where Cullen was awarded a special plaque, stick, and the coolest to me is this custom black an gold Polaris.

Cullen also got to start the game on a line with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel.

Later in the first period the team put out this video at the game, including getting Hall of Famer and legend Chris Chelios to take a minute and recognize Cullen as only the second American to join the 1,500 NHL games club.

A great night capped off with a win.

And kudos to Emma and Chris from the Pens for this great graphic!