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Wednesday, October 20, 1999
No. 1,000 for Dineen
KANATA, Ont. (CP) -- Even as he watched former teammates reach their 1,000th game in the NHL, and even as he approached the same mark game by game, Kevin Dineen wouldn't let himself think that he, too, was destined to reach the milestone.After 15 seasons in the NHL, he knows how quickly things can change, how an injury or a younger, better player can put you on the shelf.
But finally, after last Saturday's game in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche, Dineen could acknowledge the number in front of him.
With game No. 999 in the books, there was just one more to go. And, as luck would have it, it couldn't arrive more perfectly timed.
Friends and family were already in Ottawa to watch Dineen's father Bill get inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame on Wednesday night.
To see Kevin play his 1,000th game, all they'll have to do is drive out to the Corel Centre tonight to watch Dineen and the Senators play the Colorado Avalanche (7:30 p.m. EDT, CTV Sportsset).
"It's not something that I really thought about, because, injury-wise, you just never know if you're going to reach it," Kevin Dineen said.
"It took a while to get used to it. Even up to this year, you play the game and things happen during the course of a career, so it wasn't until Saturday night in Denver, when I reached 999, that I allowed myself to say, 'OK, I guess we're there."'
After playing for the Canadian national team and representing the country at the 1984 Olympics and the world hockey championships, Dineen joined the team that drafted him in 1982, the Hartford Whalers. After a 25-game American Hockey League stint in Binghamton, he was called up in December 1984 to the Whalers.
"My first game," he said, "I remember it very well.
"It was against the Canadiens and I think we lost 9-4 and I was minus-four, in Montreal, so it was a pretty humbling experience.
"I think in my second game I got into my first two fights and in my third game I got my first goal, so things started happening pretty quickly there.
"It was a pretty exciting time."
And he was never sent back to the minors.
Back then, 1,000 games was not a number young players thought about. The more common number then was 400, since once you played that many games, you were guaranteed a pension, Dineen remembers.
But as the seasons went past and teammates and contemporaries reached 1,000, Dineen started to think about his own chances.
"Ronnie Francis is a guy that I've had just so much respect for over the years, and when he hit it about five years ago, it was, like, great, give him a call and say, 'Congratulations, Ron, that's great,"' said Dineen.
"But then last year when all of a sudden Garry Galley, Ray Ferraro, Ulf Samuelsson, Kirk Muller -- guys who I had played with and against for so many years -- started hitting it, I was kind of like, 'Well, I'm really happy for those guys and I'm looking forward to getting there myself.
"For me, I'm just as excited about where I am and the possibilities for this team. But I have a lot of family and friends coming in for this, so we'll enjoy this milestone, get it out of the way, and go from there."
How much longer Dineen can keep at it is the question. He says he feels fine and has plenty of jump, and he has been able to stay around so long because he has been able to adapt his game and accept different roles. But, he'll also be 36 in a week, so the reality is that his days are getting shorter, not longer.
And if they are, it's not without a wonderful bit of symmetry, with the 35-year-old Dineen, 999 games to his credit, rooming on the road with 19-year-old Mike Fisher, who has played all of three NHL games.
"We're not really much different," said Dineen, downplaying the symbolic passing of torch. "We're both in the same business. Obviously, he started later than I did, but we've basically been doing the same thing for the last 15 years. He's been doing his in minor hockey and I've been in the professional league, but now that he's in the NHL, hopefully what I pass on will be helpful.
"And hopefully I'll be around when he celebrates his 1,000th game in the NHL."
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