Erik Johnson Skates in 1000th NHL Game: An Unexpectedly Excellent Fit
Erik Johnson skated in his 1000th NHL regular-season game on Saturday when the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Buffalo Sabres 5-2.
Johnson’s family will visit Philadelphia for Monday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers will present him with the commemorative silver stick in a pregame ceremony. Roughly 5% of NHL players in the league’s history have achieved the milestone.
Although Johnson downplayed his individual accomplishment, the incredible longevity has helped the player gain perspective and his teammates and his coaches gain admiration as the former first-overall pick nears the end of a 17-year career.
Erik Johnson: A Prototypical Professional
The Flyers acquired Johnson ahead of the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline, and he re-signed on a one-year deal as a seventh defenseman for what could be his final NHL season.
The 36-year-old has played a role in the team’s leadership group with humility and maturity paving the way for players the organization views as key long-term pieces.
Johnson has consistently pumped the tires in front of the media for rookie defenseman Emil Andrae. He joked after the San Jose Sharks game on November 11 that Andrae has already graduated from their defensive pairing to a higher place in the lineup.
The 2022 Stanley Cup champ also let Jett Luchanko live with him temporarily during his short stint in the NHL. Johnson talked about how he was simply passing along a favor for a shy rookie just like the one he received many years ago.
“I lived with Al MacInnis my rookie year in St. Louis when I was 19. I kind of had a person to lean on like that. It can be overwhelming as a teenager coming in and just focusing on hockey. If that’s (a living situation is) handled away from the rink, I think it makes your on-ice (focus) a lot better.” -Erik Johnson
The Flyers organized an effort to make special t-shirts for Johnson’s milestone. The shirts included the Avalanche, Sabres, and St. Louis Blues logos, and some players wore the shirts under their equipment on Saturday.
Praise From Teammates, Coaches
The Flyers didn’t anticipate Johnson playing 13 of their first 18 games. Injuries to Nick Seeler, Rasmus Ristolainen, Cam York, and Jamie Drysdale have forced Tortorella to adjust on the fly.
The head coach spoke highly of Marc Staal last season despite the veteran defenseman only playing 35 games. The Flyers decided to re-sign Johnson with the intention of adding similar value to the roster.
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However, Tortorella sees how the team has benefitted even more from Johnson’s personality and the relationships he’s built with the younger players like Andrae and Luchanko.
“I watch his interactions just with his teammates. It’s important, especially (with) what we’re trying to do here as far as building. As we talked about, he understands his role with us this year, and I think (he) has taken a responsibility not just (with) what’s on the ice but I think maybe even more responsibility off the ice as you start the season with some struggles.” -John Tortorella
Alternate captain Travis Konecny spoke about his teammate on November 11 after Johnson had dropped the gloves to defend rookie phenom Matvei Michkov from some aggressiveness on the part of Givani Smith against the Sharks.
“As a veteran guy, he does all the things that you expect. Whether he’s in or out, he’s making a difference in the locker room everyday.” -Travis Konecny
His light tone with the media suggested that no player in the locker room needs any further explanation for Konecny’s compliments.
It was easy to tell shortly after Danny Briere acquired Johnson from Buffalo last season that he’d mesh with Konecny. The towering 6-foot-4 blueliner spoke in a postgame scrum about Konecny’s value to the team without realizing he was walking right behind the assembled media.
After Konecny caught Johnson off guard with a ‘thank you,’ Johnson gently jabbed back that it’s no surprise he couldn’t see the 5-foot-10 winger.
Erik Johnson Shares Perspective
The silver stick unquestionably helps NHL veterans gain perspective as they near the end.
Johnson’s former teammate Keith Tkachuk reached the milestone in 2007 during Johnson’s rookie season with the Blues. Johnson joked that he looked at the franchise icon like an old-timer before he realized that hockey players in their mid-30s are still young men from a life standpoint.
“Being a part of the team is the best thing on a day-to-day basis, just being with guys everyday, it’s cool to sometimes take a step back and look back at the journey. For me, I just kind of pinch myself. I think being a little kid, if you told me I was going to do all this, I’d sign up every day of the week. So I’m pretty grateful just to all the people that helped me along the way. You never know what’s going to happen when you step on the ice for your first game and where the journey’s going to take you. It’s been a fun one.” -Erik Johnson
The Minnesota native, however, almost didn’t make it past the Covid-19 pandemic that wore on many NHLers and crushed some of the enjoyment of the game. He played only four games with the Avalanche in 2020-21 due to a concussion. The clock was clearly ticking, but was it time to hang up the skates at age 33?
“I had like 700-something games, and I was fully content with just retiring just because of the concussion and the injuries as a whole. Thinking back, what’s happened since then, it’s just amazing all that’s gone right.” -Erik Johnson
He certainly doesn’t regret staying around a little longer. Johnson won his only Stanley Cup the following season with Colorado. He’s now found an unexpectedly excellent home in Philadelphia where he can’t stop complimenting the way the rebuild has progressed with players developing in a strong locker room.
Erik Johnson won’t patrol the blue line a few seasons down the road when the Flyers hope to be ready to contend for the Stanley Cup again. However, he stumbled onto a fitting role without the need for anymore glory.
“It’s kind of nice to get it over with, so I can stop getting all this attention. Just focus on the team after this.” -Erik Johnson
