Brent Burns is on a quest for his first Cup in his NHL career, now playing for the Colorado Avalanche. This quest has now hit 1,500 games for Burns. Burns played in his 1,500th game in the third game of the season, and the league took notice.

“I think there's a lot of luck. A lot of work and you just got to enjoy it. I think every day, obviously everything's a lot harder as you get older, but I just love it. Even a day like today, the body doesn't feel too good. But, you get going in practice and you see guys get [a] sweat going and just start laughing. Those are the things you can't take for granted, that I think you got to enjoy it, be part of it,” said Burns to the media prior to the game, according to the NHL. The Avalanche would fall in the game, losing in a shootout to the Dallas Stars.

Hitting the marker of 1,500 games makes him just the eighth defenseman to reach this mark, and the 23rd overall player to join the 1,500 game club. Alexander Ovechkin will likely join the group this year, as he will play in his 1,494th game on Sunday evening.

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Burns has been an iron man in his NHL career. He last missed a game in November 2013, when he was playing for the San Jose Sharks. Since then, he has now played in over 900 straight games, with no sign of slowing down. In his time with the Sharks, he also played with another man known for longevity, Patrick Marleau. Marleau has the NHL record for most games played in the NHL with 1,779. He also spent time with Joe Thornton, who is sixth all-time with 1,714 games played.

‘“[Marleau] was just so even keel and so professional in the way he took care of himself,” noted Burns, “And [Thornton] just had an unbelievable mentality. He’d just say, ‘Just play 82 (games). You gotta play 82. There’s no nights off.’ His mentality was just unbelievable to see and be a part of and learn from. And definitely, both those guys were huge for me in many ways.”’

Now, the Avalanche hope to get a full 82 games from their blueliner. Burns hopes to lift the Stanley Cup for the first time in his career.