MARYLAND
HEIGHTS, Mo.
– The
1K club has become common for the St. Louis Blues in recent seasons,
and it also included one (Ryan Suter) who hit the 1.5K club last
season.
Justin
Faulk
becomes the latest to play in 1,000 NHL games when the Blues face the
Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena.
Faulk,
33, follows in of recent teammates to do it, including Brayden
Schenn, Nick Leddy and Cam Fowler.
“It’s
good. It hasn’t necessarily set in,” Faulk
said on Monday.
“… We’ve had a few here in the last couple years with Leddy,
‘Fowls’ and ‘Schenner,’ so it’s been fun to experience
theirs and now mine to go through it. But ultimately to share that
experience with those guys and the rest of the team, I never had that
happen. Earlier in my career, I think it took ‘Steener’ to be honest
was when I had a teammate first his 1,000 games. Since then we’ve
had a few the last couple years, but ultimately it’s
a good experience. It’s fun for the team it seems. I’m excited to
share that experience.”
Faulk,
acquired along with a fifth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft by the
Blues from the Carolina Hurricanes on Sept. 24, 2019 for Joel
Edmundson,
prospect Dominik Bokk and a seventh-round pick in 2021,
will become the 414th
player in league history to reach 1,000 games.
A
second-round pick by the Hurricanes in 2010, it’s been quote the
journey of a 15-year career, including the first eight seasons in
Carolina and this his seventh with the Blues.
“I
was lucky I got in the league at 19 years old,” Faulk
said.
“Not too similar to some of these younger guys now. It’s changed
a little bit. I think back to the Detroit Red Wings and I’m pretty
sure everyone in that organization had to spend a couple years in the
minor leagues, right? And so it ultimately seemed like it took a
little longer there for guys and we’re a little there on the older
side. I don’t think I’m that old yet, but it’s a lot of years.
You have
to have a lot of things go right to
be fortunate enough to be in this situation. Injuries can mount up.
We’ve had lockouts, we’ve had COVID, lots of things that can go
against a guy from staying in the league for a long time and I think
it’s something that I pride myself on a little bit is to try and be
healthy and available and be near the top of my game to help the team
as much as I can and do it for a long time.
“You
see these guys before me that I talked about, even Suter 1,500 games
last year, you see how these guys can take care of themselves, the
work that they put in and you know it’s not easy. There’s ebbs
and flows but they don’t waver from what they do on their
preparation on a day to day basis. To be around guys like that and to
help pave the way for you and show you how to do it, it’s a treat
and it’s been an honor for me to share that experience.”
Faulk
will also get to share the experience with his mother Gail King, who
raised Faulk and his older brother David after Faulk’s father,
Dale, died of a heart attack at age 37.
Gail
will be in attendance in Toronto for the special occasion.
“I’ve
been lucky to have the support of her and my brother (David),”
Faulk said. “He’s always along for the ride and been
super-instrumental for me as well. He works a real job. He’s a
lineman, he’s building power lines, he’s the one that’s
grinding, going on storms, driving across the country. Drive to put
power lines after storms to get stuff back up and running for people.
He’s doing the real hard work in life. I get to come here. Those
two have been great for me.”
From
playing at South St. Paul High School in 2007-08 to going to the
United States National Team Developmental Program in 2008-09 and
navigating his way through the game, Faulk said his mother’s
ability to work two jobs to give him the tools and resources needed
to make it to the top will always remain the most influential reason
why he’s here today.
“Ultimately,
it boils down to my mom,” he said. “It’s been well-documented
my father passed away when I was young (in seventh grade). She had to
raise me and my brother and be there for us and go through that
situation. It’s a lot, probably more for her to handle than it was
for us, to be honest with you, working multiple jobs and just trying
to find ways to support us and give us ultimately everything that she
could provide. It taught me how to kind of be resilient in a sense
and work hard definitely and know that there could be worse days and
you could show up to the rink and kind of move on from things, more
on life and kind of move on a little bit more. She’s been the
backbone of all of that. That kind of mindset and attitude hasn’t
gone away from me at all.”
Faulk,
who enters the game Tuesday with 468 points (134 goals, 334 assists),
including
49 goals, 161 assists in 440 games in St. Louis, plays the kind of
hard-nosed, gritty, grinding, physical style that makes it difficult
to reach such a milestone. But here he is, becoming just the 137th defenseman to do it.
“A
physical specimen in the sense that he’s so powerful and athletic,”
Blues coach Jim Montgomery said.
“He skates great, he shoots great, wins 1-on-1 battles all over the
ice. He’s someone that has a tremendous impact in the game. He’s
played since he was 19 in the NHL. He’s been a big part of what
Carolina did and he’s been a big part of the success of the Blues
while he’s been here.
“It’s
harder than a right winger or a left winger. There’s a lot of guys
that have had long streaks here playing games in a row. It’s hard
when you play that kind of game to do that.”
Faulk
has grown into a leader for the Blues, who love his simple,
care-free, doesn’t give a rat’s you-know-what anyone has to say
about him. In the offseason, you’ll find him on a lake fishing or
hunting, living a simple lifestyle. He was getting duck calls from
his teammates in the locker room on Monday prior to meeting the
media.
“Amazing.
From the first day I’ve been here, ‘Flak’s been someone who’s
kind of led the way in terms of showing me what it’s like in the
NHL, how you carry yourself as a Blue, as a pro every day, someone
who competes very hard for his teammates, just a very respectable guy
around the league,” Blues
forward Jake Neighbours said.
“It’s a great accomplishment. We’re very happy for him. Very
fortunate I got to be a part of it.
“He’s
a simple guy who likes to enjoy what he does and doesn’t really
care too much about what other people think of him. I think that’s
one of my favorite part about ‘Flak’ is he’s just
unapologetically himself, doesn’t care about what other people
think of him, other people’s opinions. He’s himself, comes to the
rink with that mindset and performs at a really high level.”
Faulk
played 19:43 in his first NHL game on Oct. 7, 2011 against the Tampa
Bay Lightning and was a minus-2. He said he, “was
horrible (the)
first
game. First three games I was horrible. I got sent down after that.”
But
his message for those getting started now to, “just
take it in, have fun. I was probably a little uptight, a little
nervous. I think most of us are for the first game and ended up
playing horribly. Honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing because it
taught me how to relax. It gave me a set after a couple of games.
Paul Maurice was a part of that. When I got sent down and came back
up, he was like, ‘Just relax and play. Don’t worry about that
stuff.’ It taught me a lot for the future and when things go wrong,
it’s OK. You can get through it. It’s not a big deal. It’s
going to happen also and it still happens.”
As
for his on-ice accomplishments and reasons he’s made it this far,
Faulk credits his former defensive coach/assistant coach with the
Hurricanes, Dave Lewis.
“I’ll
name one, because if you start naming two, three, you might as well
go down the whole list. When I was young, it was Dave Lewis,” he
said.
“He was my first D-coach in Carolina. He knew how to get me in the
right spot, I would say. He pushed me for sure, but he definitely
allowed me to be myself and try to learn and to see the game how I
saw it to help me grow in this league. He challenged me plenty of
times. He let me be myself a little bit, but when I got a little too
loose, maybe a little too arrogant or something, he brought me back
to square one. He was my first D-coach and we went through a coaching
change right away early in my career. Paul Maurice got let go. It was
all like just a whirlwind to me. It was like November of my first
year. He was there for me for three years and really helped me
develop into someone that could play in this league and give me
confidence to be not only a player in the short term but a successful
and impact player and over the long term.”
The
Blues will have a ceremony for Faulk’s accomplishment prior to an
upcoming home game. There will be the customary silver stick, and as
far as teammates’ gifts?
“I
do not know what the boys have in store for me,” Faulk
said with a smile.
“I’m sure it will be a little unique.”
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