ST. LOUIS — When Brayden Schenn suits up in his 1,000th NHL game on Thursday for the St. Louis Blues against the Washington Capitals, he will be the 408th player in NHL history to accomplish the feat.
Every player has a distinct story and path of how they carved out their respective careers, some in similar fashion, and in the 33-year-old Schenn’s case, it’s unique in itself for the fact this is a player that exhibits skill, toughness, a willingness to fight, stick up for teammates and sacrifice his body for the betterment of the team he surrounds himself with.
“If you look at all the players that have ever played in the NHL, I don’t know the exact number,” Schenn said. “I’m very fortunate and lucky and obviously very thankful to be in this position. Obviously family’s a huge thing to help you get here, but once you’re in the NHL, you have to have teammates that support you and coaches support you and obviously teammates and organization. It’s an accomplishment I’m definitely proud of. You definitely don’t feel good for all 82 (games in a season), put it that way.”
[embedded content]
From the Saskatoon Generals Bantam AA squad in 2005-06 to the Saskatoon Contacts in 2006-07, playing for Brandon of the Western Hockey League and then getting selected with the No. 5 pick of the 2009 NHL Draft by the Los Angeles Kings, Schenn joins older brother Luke Schenn as the only siblings to reach 1,000 games in the same season.
Luke Schenn, 35, played in his 1,000th game for the Nashville Predators on Oct. 17 against the Edmonton Oilers.
“Both of us are really fortunate to have had the careers we’ve had,” Luke said. “I think the biggest thing is to have one another, honestly. I think we’re each other’s biggest supporters and critics and fans at the same time. Ever since we were 3-4 years old, we’ve always played 1-on-1 against each other and that led to the backyard rink. He’s a forward, I’m a defenseman and I think it kind of ended up that way where the younger guy probably had the puck a little bit more. But every step along the way, whether it was spring hockey in Saskatchewan or midget AAA and drafted in the Western Hockey League and you go through the Hockey Canada events, the NHL Draft and just playing in the NHL together in Philadelphia for 3.5 years, a lot of years against each other.
“We’ve just been so fortunate and I think personally, I would not be in the situation where I’m at today without having him along for the ride with me just because we push each other. We train together in the summer, we skate together in the summer. We talk just about every day, especially after every game, before every game. I try to watch as many Blues games as I can and I know when he’s feeling good and I know when he’s fighting it a bit and try to sometimes be honest with him or encouragement and I think it’s vice versa, same thing with me too.”
Brayden agreed.
“We’ve pushed each other since Day 1 and we talk all the time,” he said. “We talk hockey, we talk life. I’m proud of him just because he was down and out there for a while and had to battle back and still playing at 35. For us to do it in the same year is pretty special. It’s funny how things like that add up. It’s a milestone you feel thankful for. You play a lot through 82 games, but at the same time, people, organizations, they all support you and you just go out there and try to do your best.”
Brayden Schenn, who will have wife Kelsey and parents Jeff and Rita at the game Thursday, has 669 points (272 goals, 397 assists) and has put up the kind of numbers playing the same way as when he made his NHL debut with the Kings on Nov. 26, 2009 against the Vancouver Canucks.
“When I grew up watching hockey was not just scoring goals and whatever,” Brayden said. “You try and play a two-way game. One of my favorite players back in the day was Jarome Iginla. I watched him a lot on TV and whether you see it mentally when you’re young with him sticking up for teammates or him getting in the odd scrap or him just playing hard every night. Hopefully when people describe me one day, they describe me as just a hockey player. Hopefully I just try to have a little quality of just a little bit of everything. I’ve always felt like sticking up for teammates goes a long way in the room. I’ll continue to do it.”
Schenn has played with a skillful and tough demeanor, but he’s always been known to take care of his teammates on and off the ice, something he learned growing up through his time working his way up the ladder.
[embedded content]
Brayden Schenn caps the Blues’ 5-4 OT win over San Jose on Oct. 10.
“L.A. was a short stint, but [Anze] Kopitar or [Drew] Doughty or Justin Williams, guys like that was obviously so short, but then you go to Philadelphia, Claude Giroux took me in,” Schenn said. “My first year I played there, I lived with him for a full year. He was captain of the team so we were roommates there for a year. And then guys like Scotty Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen, Jody Shelley, the list goes on and on, and then when you come here, you’re still a young guy. I was 26 and then guys like Paul Stastny and Alex Steen, Jay Bouwmeester and ‘Petro’ [Alex Pietrangelo], whoever it may be. As you get older, you realize the impact you can have on a young guy in the right direction of making him feel good, making him feel comfortable. I think you just realize as you play, that the league is tough. There’s a lot of ups and downs and you try and help guys through that, make them feel comfortable and I’ve always cared for my teammates.”
Schenn had a great impact on winger Jake Neighbours, who the Blues took with the 26th pick in 2020 and someone who was a small pea in a large pod that needed some guidance.
“I think it’s well-documented what he’s done for me, especially early in my career with COVID, taking me into his house and obviously Kelsey as well,” Neighbours said. “Just treated me like I was one of the family and over the years it’s grown into a friendship and I really feel like it was a mentorship. Now we’re obviously really close. I’m very excited for him, happy for him. He deserves this day and grateful I get to be a part of it.
“… I remember I was sitting at my house during COVID. I hadn’t left in days and I got drafted a couple weeks before I think. He just calls me. I got a call from a Saskatchewan number. I thought it might be family or something and I picked up the phone and it was Brayden Schenn. He’s like, ‘Hey, you’re going to come live with me. We’re flying down in a couple days, I’ll pick you up at the airport.’ Yeah, that was it. I didn’t know too much about him.”
Schenn got traded early in his career from the Kings to the Philadelphia Flyers and spent six seasons there beginning in 2011-12, scoring his first NHL goal at the 2012 Bridgestone Winter Classic:
[embedded content]
Brayden Schenn scored first NHL goal at the 2012 Winter Classic.
But the day Blues general manager Doug Armstrong swung a deal at the 2017 draft in Chicago, sending Jori Lehtera and two first-round picks to the Flyers for Schenn on June 23, 2017, it was another move that swung the tides towards a team rounding into the one that ultimately won the franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup in 2019:
[embedded content]
Brayden Schenn’s third-period goal in Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins sealed St. Louis’ 4-1 win.
“I’ve always said it: St. Louis has been the best thing for me,” Schenn said. “Playing here, I got a great opportunity and love it here, and spent many good years here. To hit a milestone here in St. Louis, it obviously means a lot to me.”
It means a lot to those he won a Cup with as well.
“As a player, there’s only so many milestones you can get to as an individual and that’s obviously a big one for everybody,” said Pietrangelo, Schenn’s teammate from 2017-21. “It’ll be cool. Looking forward to watching that, especially with him and his kids on the ice.
“It’s a great combo at what he does. That’s why he’s been in the league for 1,000 games. I don’t think you get to 1,000 games without being a pro and being able to … even adapt your game, right? We’ve all had to adapt. Him, myself, all of us that have been around, you have to change your game and he’s been able to do that. Great teammate. You’re always happy for guys like that.”
“I could not be happier for a guy that does everything well,” said Predators center Ryan O’Reilly, a teammate with Schenn in St. Louis from 2018-23. “You think about 1,000 games, he’s a guy that’s hard to play against, drop the gloves, score goals. He does everything. So amazing for him and also to the stuff he does off the ice with the team and getting guys together and taking care of young guys. He’s a guy you want your son to be. The way he plays the game and the character that he has. Obviously a huge congrats to him and his family. Obviously getting to play with his brother too and seeing their family and how we talk about how there should be a book on them, just how incredible people they are, their whole outreach in the hockey world. They’re so amazing, but Brayden, he’s an amazing teammate, an amazing friend. We played international for Team Canada together, but coming here, I was really able to get close with him. One thousand games, it’s not easy, but well-deserved by him for sure.”
And who knows more than one of Schenn’s closest friends, Seattle Kraken forward Jaden Schwartz, a teammate and linemate of Schenn’s with Vladimir Tarasenko in St. Louis from 2017-21.
“That Schenn family’s had a lot of accomplishments, but it’s pretty special,” Schwartz said. “He’s a team-first guy, he really cares about his teammates and just an awesome friend, really caring. You can see how he’s a leader, sticks up for his teammates, he’s a guy that’s very offensive, very skilled, sees the ice well, but he does so many other little things right. We accomplished so much together, and it’s a big accomplishment for him. I’m proud and happy for him.”
Schenn is in his eighth season in St. Louis and second as captain, awarded as the 24th in Blues history prior to the 2023-24 season that came as no surprise.
“He takes care of other people around him. That’s no secret,” Luke Schenn said. “You can ask anyone. I see it all the time and I talk to him about it and he bounces a lot of ideas off of me. Not systems and stuff with the team, just sort of situations more so. It’s good to have someone who’s been through it all. I haven’t necessarily been a captain, but I do understand people.
“We talk all the time. I’m not totally shocked. You can say what you want. I think he tries to show up and play hard every night. Sometimes it goes his way, sometimes it doesn’t, but I think the one thing you can never take away is how he treats people and takes care of the young guys, the trainers. He’s got a lot on his plate behind the scenes as far as things to deal with and I think he’s doing a helluva job. In saying that, it’s learning on the fly too.”
But to Blues coach Jim Montgomery, who got a text from Schenn when he first arrived in St. Louis as an assistant coach under Craig Berube in 2020, he has the perfect leader.
“It’s just honest, open communication, very easy, low maintenance,” Montgomery said. “Very similar to the players I dealt with in Boston.
“It’s pretty amazing because to play the game as hard, there’s not one easy game he’s played where he’s physically and mentally hasn’t been involved for his team. It’s an amazing accomplishment but not surprising because he’s played with a lot of injuries, he’s played with pain and he’s inflicted a lot of pain.
“He’s as old-school as you get. Just the way he wants to compete every night and the way he cares about the crest of the Blues.”
When Luke Schenn had his celebration for 1,000 games in October, Brayden and the Blues had just polished off a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, then he high-tailed it out of town for a quick flight to Nashville to join his brother’s celebration.
“(St. Louis) played at 6 o’clock and we played an afternoon game and he snuck out of the Enterprise Center and got on a plane quick,” Luke said. “We have a friend who made the trip from British Columbia so he came over and it was a surprise. I had no idea he was there. All of the sudden we had the whole team there and I had probably 150 people there. It was probably 10:30 at night and someone got on the mic and said we have one last last, final surprise for you. I peaked around the corner and he was there. (St. Louis) luckily had the day off the next morning. So he was able to fly back. I don’t know if he got the clearance for that from the team, but that’s the type of guy he is, and he wasn’t going to miss it because the schedule allowed it.
“He planned all this out within a couple days, and I only had mine four games into the season too. He came and that was the best surprise for sure.I wasn’t expecting it.”
Now Luke owes his brother the return favor.
“It just worked out. We played Saturday night at 6. They played at 1 o’clock and I was able to get there just from St. Louis,” Brayden said. “We had the day off the next day so that worked out. Surprised him.
“Me and Luke are very close, we’re very tight. We talk pretty much every single day. Probably our wives probably get annoyed with it how much the phones are ringing for each other now or just in general. He’s the guy that’s always been in my corner, a guy that I’ve competed with, battled with, trained with. I’ve always said I owe a lot to him just because I was always the guy that would always get to see everything before, whether it was under-17s, world juniors, getting drafted, then to the NHL. When I was in Brandon when I was 16, Kelly McCrimmon let me go to Toronto to see a game in Toronto. I got the taste of what it’s like just through following him around. I definitely owe a lot to him and it just makes you hungrier.”
Hungrier in the fact that he’s in his 16th season and still effective to this day.
“I got told at an early age someone’s here to take your job,” Brayden said. “It’s the reality, it’s the business we’re in, so you have to come in each day and prepare and work. Every day’s not going to be great, every game’s not going to be great. Sometimes you’re going to have bad games. Sometimes you’re going to be taking a seat on the bench, don’t agree with the coaches all the time, you don’t agree with some things, but at the end of the day, you keep on battling and you keep on battling with your team, playing hard with your teammates and just enjoying being around the guys.”
