WINNIPEG – Charlie Coyle, a guy who once played in the 2014 playoffs with not one but two separated shoulders, tied Antti Laaksonen's Wild record by playing in his 283rd consecutive regular-season game Tuesday night.
If all goes according to plan, Coyle will break the team ironman record, set from 2000-03, Wednesday against the Chicago Blackhawks.
"You always want to be there and play and be there for your teammates," said Coyle, who had three assists in the Wild's 4-2 victory over the Jets. "And you want to be healthy and prolong your career. The healthier you are, the more chance you have of doing that. It's just my goal to take care of my body and take care of myself off the ice, do the right things."
Coyle gave major props to the Wild's training staff, saying they do "a great job with all of us to get us back out there, take care of any nicks or pains or anything like that. We owe a lot to them."
Doug Jarvis owns the NHL record with 964 consecutive games played. Anaheim's Andrew Cogliano holds the longest active streak at 759; he hasn't missed a game in his career.
Andrew Brunette, a former Wild coach and player, played 509 consecutive games from 2002-09 for Colorado and Minnesota. In six seasons with the Wild over two stints, Brunette missed three games.
Durable Wild center Eric Staal has missed 22 games in his 13-year career, and 12 of those came in one season.
Coyle's theory is "no one is ever really 100 percent, for the most part, especially at the end of the year. Over the summer, you try and fix what isn't 100 percent.