Dallas Stars: Jason Spezza Celebrates 1000 Games Played

Dallas Stars forward Jason Spezza will play in his 1000th career game tonight, the fourth player to do so this season and 326th overall to earn a silver stick.

Jason Spezza is the 39th player to reach that milestone after spending time with the Dallas Stars franchise.

Of course, Spezza didn’t play in all of those games with Dallas. The only player with that honor is Mike Modano.

Instead, Spezza spent the first 11 seasons, or 686 games, with the Ottawa Senators.

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While in Ottawa, Spezza had 251 goals and 687 points, just over a point per game. He even spent his last season there as the team captain after the retirement of long-time captain Daniel Alfredsson. He was named to the All-Star Game twice, once in 2008 and again in 2012.

He holds second place on Ottawa’s franchise leaderboards in goals, assists, and points, all of which are led by Alfredsson. He’s also in sixth place for games played with the team.

He went to the Stanley Cup Final with the Senators in 2006-07, though they lost to the Ducks in five games. During that run, he led the league with 22 playoff points, tied with teammates Alfredsson and Dany Heatley.

In his time with the Stars, he’s had his ups and downs. He’s one-third of the “supernova line” that the Stars occasionally iced through the Lindy Ruff years, with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, and they did amazing things when they were put together as a bit of an emergency option. He was a fantastic second-line center behind Seguin when he joined the Stars and he topped 60 points in his first two seasons here.

However, age and injuries caught up to him last year, along with being put into a system that didn’t work with his style. He had the worst season of his career, including a healthy scratch that was shocking because of who he was but not at all surprising considering his play at the time.

He only had 8 goals and 26 points all season last year, and he struggled under Ken Hitchcock’s coaching. This year, he’s been looking more like his old self, and he’s actually got 2 goals and 8 points already in 10 games so far. That’s on pace for roughly 16 goals and 66 points, which certainly wouldn’t be his best season, but would be a welcome relief for fans.

Through 999 games going into tonight, Spezza has 326 goals and 896 points. He’s actually seventh of all active players in the league on points. His future beyond this season is still up in the air after his current contract expires, but at least for now, he’ll get his chance in the spotlight as he earns his silver stick and celebrates with his family.