On Wednesday night defenseman John-Michael Liles of the Colorado Avalanche recorded his ninth assist in nine games since the beginning of the season. The assist was not granted to him at first but adjusted within the game, during the second intermission. With this assist Liles set a new NHL record among defensemen for the longest assist streak. Even though this is a great achievement, Liles does not let this record get to his head and remains focused on what’s important. “When it’s all said and done, it might mean something to me, but right now, it’s about wins and losses. When my career’s done, I can say, ‘Yeah, that was a great thing,’ maybe, and I can tell my kids someday, but that’s about all it is right now.”
Hi assist was a clear out of Avalanche’s defensive zone that his teammate Ryan O’Reilly picked up and passed to the goal scorer Daniel Winnik. Initially it was unclear whether it truly was Liles who threw the puck initially but after reviews and reconciliations of the NHL Off-Ice Officials there were no doubts left.
Yesterday’s assist extended Liles’ point streak to nine games, which is now the longest scoring streak by an Avalanche player to begin a season since the team moved to Denver. The previous record was eight games by Joe Sakic to open the 1999-2000 campaign. The last Nordiques player to begin a season with points in nine straight games was Wendel Clark (10 games) to begin the 1994-95 campaign for Quebec.
