TORONTO — When Ron Hainsey scored a goal in Carolina last November – one of 55 on his growing NHL resume – he saw just one drawback to making such an obvious contribution in a Toronto Maple Leafs victory.
"Scoring in the NHL is never a bad deal except for this interview stuff," he said.
Hainsey is a man who would prefer to hide in plain sight.
That won’t be possible when he is feted before the Leafs host the Dallas Stars on Thursday night, becoming the third man this week to join the 300-strong club of players to appear in 1,000 career NHL games.
It is a milestone that garners considerable respect around the league. You need the right combination of ability, dedication and luck to reach it. Most established veterans track their progress and view it as a major benchmark worth clearing.
"I’m proud of it, probably more than most milestones," said Stars centre Jason Spezza, who saved a couple of the date-stamped pucks from warmup when he played No. 1,000 in Montreal on Tuesday. "It’s definitely forced me to look back maybe more than normal in a season."
Not Hainsey.
He’d prefer to treat this like any old Thursday nighter in November.
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Following Wednesday’s practice, he was asked about having to grind his way through parts of five American Hockey League seasons before even establishing himself as an NHL regular. He responded by critiquing Toronto’s poor performance in its last game out against Calgary.
If it were up to him, all of the traditions that tend to come with the achievement would simply be ignored this time around.
"A silver stick and all," Hainsey said dryly. "It’ll be very exciting."
"It’s just a number of games. We seem to count games in hockey for whatever reason," he added. "I’m a big sports fan, I couldn’t tell you how many games all my favourite sportsmen have played in other sports. It’s just not an overly concerning thing, as far as I’m concerned, but it’s a nice round number."
In this case, it is a testament to his unlikely journey.
Of the 325 men to play 1,000 games, only 21 have scored fewer than Hainsey’s 55 goals. Just 28 have fewer than his 281 points.
He was considered an offensive defenceman when the Montreal Canadiens drafted him 13th overall out of UMass-Lowell in 2000, but it wasn’t until he committed himself to stronger play in his own zone after being claimed on waivers by the Columbus Blue Jackets in November 2005 that he started gaining traction.
From there, he quietly went through Atlanta, Winnipeg and Carolina. He briefly gained some notoriety after being acquired by Pittsburgh at the 2017 trade deadline and helping the Penguins win the Stanley Cup during his first ever playoff appearance.
But even after signing with the Leafs later that summer and taking a spot alongside Morgan Rielly on the top defensive pairing, he’s lived a quiet life in the centre of the hockey universe. About the only time you hear much about Hainsey is when head coach Mike Babcock is singing his praises, as he did again in the lead-up to his 1,000th game.
"They’re going to hand this thing out and no one’s going to really pay attention. They’re not going to have any idea," said Babcock. "Like it’s impossible. Friggin’ it’s unbelievable.
"If you look at Ronny’s career — and it should be a message to all our young guys who think they should be in the lineup more — Ronny put in his time to get in the league."
Around the Leafs he is quite literally a man of another generation. On a team bursting with stylish young stars, Hainsey almost exclusively wears a plain black suit on game days. He’s also been known to drive a Hummer — an SUV that has been out of production since 2010, before many of his current teammates even had their driver’s license.
Hainsey was raised in Bolton, Conn., and grew up cheering for an NHL team that no longer exists.
"We had the Whalers in Hartford. They didn’t have any all-time ‘D’ that I can remember," he said. "Ron Francis, Kevin Dineen, were kind of the big stars when I was coming up. But hockey was still very, very big in New England – still is."
His NHL debut came under the famous roof at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 11, 2002 in a game that included Hall of Famers Doug Gilmour, Brian Leetch, Mark Messier and Eric Lindros. That’s not what he remembers most about that night.
"We won 2-1," said Hainsey. (Editor’s note: It was actually 4-1) "I was on the ice for a goal against early in the first [period] and Michel Therrien scratched me two days later."
He’s the only man who played that night still standing.
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In fact, Hainsey is now the 10th oldest player in a league that has ruthlessly cast his peers aside, first because veterans tended to be paid too much after the adoption of a salary cap in 2005 and more recently because of a dramatic shift towards speed and skill.
A contrarian by nature, Hainsey has bucked the trend by simply putting his head down and going to work. Even at age 37 and in another contract year, he’s not one to look around and enjoy the view.
He’ll let others do it for him.
"[Playing 1,000 games] is something great, I think, for every player to strive for. I know I’m certainly striving for it," said teammate John Tavares, still more than 300 shy. "It shouldn’t be taken for granted. It’s hard to do."
Even if there’s no added significance for Hainsey, there is for others in his sphere. He acknowledged he’d have some family in attendance for the milestone night. Plus Babcock opened his scrum with an unprompted shout-out on Wednesday afternoon.
But the veteran defenceman was in no mood to reflect back on the path he’s travelled to get here. In his mind, it is what it is.
"I’m not going to sit in here all day and give you all day what I’ve learned," said Hainsey. "Probably, if I could come up with one quick for you, it’s just that every day getting to play in this league, it’s not only a privilege but it’s a great opportunity – no matter who’s watching – to have a good day.
"Like I said, we did not have a very good day Monday. So tomorrow’s a new one where you can go out and put a different foot forward and hopefully [leave] a different impression."
With any luck, only a few people will notice and he can move on.
