For Skrastins, it's work, work, work

Perhaps it would have been more fitting if he was Nashville’s first ever draft pick. But the reality is that iron-man defenseman Karlis Skrastins was the Predators’ last pick in their very first draft. He was their "Mr. Irrelevant."

Players like Geoff Koch, Kent Sauer, Martin Beauchesne, Craig Brunel and Martin Bartek – you’re not alone if you just asked “Who?” -- were all picked before him. Skrastins was selected in the now-defunct ninth round (No. 230 overall) by the expansion club in 1998.
Funny how things turn out.

He is now a member of the Colorado Avalanche and the 32-year-old Skrastins has put together quite a career for himself. When he was traded to the Avs, the Predators didn’t even immediately get a player back for him, flipping him instead for future considerations in 2003.

Thursday, Skrastins will go into the NHL record book when he passes Tim Horton for the impressive feat of playing in what will be 487-consecutive games as a defenseman. That would be 487 more games than Koch, Sauer, Beauchesne, Brunel and Bartek combined to play in over their NHL careers. By the way, the total number of games those higher picks played add up to zero. None. Zippo.

Funny, indeed.

Horton played in 486-consecutive games for Toronto between 1961 and 1968. The NHL’s all-time record for consecutive games played may never be broken. Doug Jarvis played in 964-straight games between 1975 and 1987. Gary Unger played in 914 between 1968 and 1979, Steve Larmer dressed in 884 between 1982 and 1993, Craig Ramsay played in 776 consecutive games for 10 years between 1973 and 1983, and Andy Hebenton played in 630-consecutive matches between 1955 and 1964.

Horton owned the consecutive games played mark for a defenseman, an achievement Skrastins matched in a game against Florida Tuesday night. And it’s really the first time Skrastins has gotten much attention for anything after playing a simple, steady game that’s allowed him to stealthily slip under the radar all these years.

“I’m not going to score a lot of goals and I’m not going to score a lot of points,” Skrastins said.
Not much about Skrastins stands out. He doesn’t score a lot. The 17 points he put up during the 2001-02 season with Nashville remains a career high. This season with Colorado, Skrastins failed to register a point the first 31 games of the season. He’s not a punishing menace on the blue line either. But he doesn’t make many mistakes.

And he never takes a night off.

“Pain is kind of part of our game,” Skrastins said. “If I can get through it and I feel alright, I’m going to play.”

He’s done quite a bit of that. Skrastins’ streak began Feb. 21, 2000, his rookie year with the Preds. Since then, he has not missed a single regular-season game his teams have played in, close to seven years of service time. Going into Thursday’s game against Atlanta, when Skrastins is expected to pass Horton for the most durable defenseman honor, he had played a total of 10,086 minutes and averaged 20:48 of ice time over the course of his iron run.

“My mother worked two jobs,” Skrastins said. “That’s what I learned from my mom and dad, to be a hard worker.”

Skrastins has played a steady, simple brand of defense since breaking into the NHL with the Predators.Making the feat more impressive is the fact that the NHL game is tougher than ever on defensemen. No longer can you hold up opposing forecheckers and the defensemen are being hit harder than ever under the new rules. It has also become increasingly more difficult for d-men to defend within the rules. Mobility and durability now trump size and strength on the blue line.

And Skrastins isn’t exactly a floater either. He leads the Avalanche in blocked shots this year, his 147 blocks ranking him third in the league. That’s 147 times he’s thrown his body in front of a frozen piece of vulcanized rubber that moves over 100 miles an hour during NHL games. Hey, if the hockey thing doesn’t work out, Skrastins could work for the Secret Service, diving in front of actual bullets. He’s got enough practice.

“After games I have a lot of ice bags on my body,” he said.

It takes a tough man to put together this kind of streak, and Skrastins is as tough as they come. He’s also one of the loyal team guys in the NHL. He admitted the worst injury he ever played through during his streak was a broken wrist, which would have 99 percent of the league watching from the press box in street clothes. Not Skrastins.

“It was one year before the lockout, towards the end of the season, too, I think the last 10 or 15 games,” Skrastins said. “I had a broken wrist. The team doctors and trainers did a big, big job. They made a nice wristband for me. I played one game, I played the second game, and I was feeling good. It was a lot of pain, but it didn’t bother me to play my game. If I was a forward, I don’t know if I would be able to play that game with that wrist injury.”

There would have been no shame in sitting then. But he didn’t.

“Yeah, but hockey is my job. It’s what I like to do and I like to be in the game,” Skrastins said.

“Usually if I can help the team, I’m going to be ready.”

And for the better part of the last seven years, he’s been ready. Ready for work. --