Patrick Marleau played his 1,768th game Monday night, breaking Gordie Howe's NHL career record. Which naturally led to questions about whether anyone would ever break Marleau's still-increasing games benchmark.
"The modern game, the speed, the physicality ... players are playing at a young age, but it's very difficult to be as durable as Patty has been. It's a long time. It's pretty special," said Logan Couture, Marleau's San Jose Sharks teammate.
So the record is Marleau's forever?
"Records are made to be broken, though. That's the old saying, right?" Couture said. "So we'll see."
The NHL could see a few other big records fall over the next few seasons, depending on the pursuers' durability, execution and -- let's face it -- good fortune. Here are six of them, ranked by feasibility:
