Peter, Paul and merry

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This article was published 22/03/2021 (1634 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Like father, like son. At least when it comes to one memorable milestone.

Winnipeg Jets forward Paul Stastny laces up his skates Monday night in Vancouver, hitting the ice for his 977th regular-season game. A significant achievement, considering that’s exactly how many his proud papa, Peter, played during a 15-year career with Quebec, New Jersey and St. Louis.

“I think it’s special. We’ve talked about it. I knew going into this season that would be a number I’d be able to hit. In the summertime when you’re bored, you kind of look at milestones. For me, that’s more of a personal number. That’s probably the only number I could beat him in stats wise. Just to equal the same amount of games, it’s special. It’s special for him, for me, and for the Stastny legacy,” Stastny said prior to puck drop at Rogers Arena.

Stastny is going to have a hard time catching dear old dad in a number of other categories. Peter, now 64, scored 450 goals and added 789 assists, good for 1,239 points in his 977 tilts. Paul, 35, was at 259 goals, 485 assists and 744 points through his first 976 games. 

“It’s just a real good happy story. You kind of sit back and you get to look at a player that you care for who is a really good man and you just kind of think about what that great that must mean between father and son. You’re always so proud of any accomplishment or even not an accomplishment, but any joy that your kid is having in life and you get to participate with that a little bit. They get a new job, they finish a degree, whatever it is,” said Jets coach Paul Maurice.

“This is, wow, what a great thing for father and son to share. There will always be that special pride the next night, when the son surpasses the father. They’ll joke around about it. I’m sure at the table there might be some stats that favour the father over the son. But, I’m sure that there is a tremendous amount of pride by his dad and rightfully so.”

Although the pandemic combined with the NHL season makes it impossible to see each other in person, the Stastnys remain in constant communication.

“He always knows what to say to me at the right time. There are times that I’m not feeling it, if I’m low on confidence, I don’t want to talk to anyone, I feel like that’s where he understands me the best. He knows how to contact me and say the right thing somehow or someway. That’s where it’s really good for me,” said Stastny.

“Hockey wise obviously, we think the same. When I’m thinking stuff I always ask him, just for assurance, just to make sure I’m on the right page in the way I see it. For me, the biggest thing obviously having him as a dad, as a mentor, is just the sound board that a lot of guys don’t have. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized how lucky I am to have that.”

As long as he can stay healthy, Stastny is on track to play his 1,000th game on May 7 at Bell MTS Place against the Ottawa Senators. That would be game 55 of 56 for the Jets, with the finale to come the following night. Then it’s on to what he hopes will be a lengthy playoff run, where he would have a chance to one-up the old man in one other category.

Peter never won a Stanley Cup, and he’s often mentioned as one of the best players in the game to come up empty in that department. Paul, a pending unrestricted free agent this summer, knows he’s running out of time.

“I feel we talk a lot more mental side of hockey. I’m going through struggles or if I’m doing good, he knows what I’m going through because he’s been through it or he’s seen me go through it at different times in my career. More than anything he’s always keeping tabs on our team. It’s gotten to a point now in my career, the last five or six years, where all he cares about is me winning and he wants the team to win,” said Stastny.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg