WRITTEN BY SENSCHIRP READER- Pascal
What started out as a discussion in the comment section ended up with me doing quite a bit of research. And I figured that research was worth a ChirpEd article as the actual comment ended up being too long.
The question is whether or not Chris Phillips deserves to have his jersey retired. The topic is obviously a tad premature as Chris Phillips has made it clear he’s still planning on making a comeback this season, but the news about a set back with his recent back injury has people talking retirement for Chris Phillips.
Whether or not to retire Phillips’ number is a debate that has popped up here in the past, and I had mentioned that there are only 26 players in NHL history to have over 1000 games played in a career and stay with a single franchise. This comment is what started this for me:
“How many of those 26 have their #’s retired. If Phillips is 11th and they all are retired, kinda makes it a easy bet.”
So how many are there? Here is the list of NHL players who have played over 1000 NHL career games and stayed with a single NHL franchise. To note, Toronto honor jerseys instead of retiring them but it’s basically the same thing.
1. Niklas Lidstrom, Detroit – 1564 games, retired jersey, HOF
2. Alex Delvecchio, Detroit – 1549 games, retired jersey, HOF
3. Steve Yzerman, Detroit – 1514 games, retired jersey, HOF
4. Stan Mikita, Chicago – 1394 games, retired jersey, HOF
5. Patrick Marleau, San Jose – 1329 games, ACTIVE PLAYER
6. Ken Daneyko, New Jersey – 1283 games, retired jersey
7. Henri Richard, Montreal – 1256 games, retired jersey, HOF
8. Patrick Elias, New Jersey – 1224 games, ACTIVE PLAYER
9. Gilbert Perreault, Buffalo – 1191 games, retired jersey, HOF
10. George Armstrong, Toronto – 1187 games, honored number, HOF
11. Chris Phillips, Ottawa – 1179 games, ACTIVE PLAYER
12. Bob Gainey, Montreal – 1160 games, retired jersey, HOF
13. Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia – 1144 games, retired jersey, HOF
14. Jean Beliveau, Montreal – 1125 games, retired jersey, HOF
15. Dave Taylor, Los Angeles – 1111 games, retired jersey
16. Henric Sedin, Vancouver – 1092 games, ACTIVE PLAYER
17. Craig Ramsey, Buffalo – 1070 games, Buffalo Sabres HOF
18. Rod Gilbert, New York Rangers – 1065 games, retired jersey, HOF
19. Daniel Sedin, Vancouver – 1061 games, ACTIVE PLAYER
20. Denis Potvin, New York Islanders – 1060 games, retired jersey, HOF
21. Ron Ellis, Toronto – 1034 games, nothing
22. Wayne Cashman, Boston – 1027 games, nothing
23. Tomas Holmstrom, Detroit – 1026 games, nothing
24. Milan Hejduk, Colorado – 1020 games, nothing (yet lol)
25. Bob Murray, Chicago – 1008 games, nothing
26. Claude Provost, Montreal – 1005 games, nothing
Looking at the Top 20 guys, all but Craig Ramsey and the active players have their jersey retired, and out of the active players I feel like Phillips is the only question mark for jersey retirement. It’s tough to compare him to anyone on this list stats wise though as he is the only one who plays a shutdown role, especially as a Dmen so points are not and have never been expected from him.
Taking a look at Phillips stats, he currently ranks 35th among NHL Dmen in games played, and 180th in points. Again, points aren’t the be all end all from him, and 35th in games played is a pretty great feat on it’s own. Looking at Playoff games, Phillips sits in a tie for 60th in games played among Dmen. His 15 points are basically a non-factor in the rankings.
But when it comes to jersey retirement, how much of it is based on stats compared to what the player has accomplished wearing the teams uniform? Phillips was a 1st overall draft pick from the Ottawa Senators in 1996, and if we were to re-draft that year I would be surprised if Phillips would fall out of the Top 10, although to be fair that was a lackluster draft year.
He holds the Sens record for most games in franchise history, and ranks 3rd among Dmen in points behind Redden and Karlsson. Off the ice, there probably hasn’t been a better ambassador for the team and the city aside from Alfie. He’s always been there volunteering and participating in various events. He now has his Big Rig restaurant in the city so I’d be surprised if he would completely disappear after his retirement.
So what does this all add up to? I’m still on the fence about it at this point. There’s no denying Phillip’s longevity with this club and the league in general, and that’s some pretty good company he falls into looking at the list of players up there. But does playing for a long time deserve it if you don’t have any hardware or numbers to back it up?
The reason I highlighted Craig Ramsey was because that although he didn’t get his jersey retired, the team did include him in their own Hall of Fame. I would say that the Sens should open their own version, either a HOF or a Ring of Honor in the arena, preferably within the next 2-3 years.
After this season, Phillips, Neil and possibly Bryan Murray will all be gone from the team, and that will basically be the end of the 2007 Finals team. The 2017-2018 season for the club will be their 25th anniversary in the league, and having this exhibit opened that year would be a good way to create excitement and really drive the point that the team has moved into a new era.
And having it open would be the best way to honor Phillips for what he means to this team. I’m not convinced that his play deserves a jersey retirement considering he’s never really put up points and his poor play the last few seasons almost makes me forget how great of a shutdown guy he was in his hayday.
It would also give an avenue to honor guys like Chris Neil, Bryan Murray, Jason Spezza and Wade Redden because if Phillips doesn’t deserve his number retired none of these guys do, although they all deserve to be recognized for what they accomplished with their time on this team.
If he does get #4 up in the rafters though, I’ll be one of the guys happy for him and can ultimately live with the decision. There’s only been 300 players in NHL history to hit 1000 games played which is hard enough to do, and considering how few of those players managed to do it with one club I feel it’s important to acknowledge Phillips so that future generations can appreciate how great he was for this team.
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