Brent Burns is back in Minnesota with the Colorado Avalanche carrying a 2-0 lead into Game 3 of their Western Conference Second Round series on Saturday, and the 41-year-old defenseman is doing it in the middle of his 22nd NHL season.
For Burns, the setting is hard to miss. He began his NHL career as a forward with the Minnesota Wild, who took him with the No. 20 pick in the 2003 NHL Draft, and he played seven seasons there before leaving after the 2010-11 season.
What matters now is how much he still gives. Burns has played 1,007 consecutive regular-season games, the second-longest streak in NHL history behind Phil Kessel's 1,064, and he still logged meaningful minutes for Colorado this season. He had 35 points in 82 regular-season games and averaged 18:53 of ice time per game, then added one assist in six playoff games while averaging 18:05 in the postseason.
Burns said he keeps showing up because he enjoys the daily grind and the younger players around him, saying he comes to the rink every day and has fun around teammates such as Martin Necas, Jack Drury, Parker Kelly and Logan O'Connor. He also joked that his maturity level is not far beyond a teenager, adding that is part of why he still wants to torture himself at the rink.
That blend of mileage and energy has defined a career that has produced 945 points in 1,579 games, including 273 goals and 672 assists, plus 81 playoff points in 141 Stanley Cup Playoff games. Burns has reached the Stanley Cup Final once, with the San Jose Sharks in 2015-16, when they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games.
His old Minnesota ties add another layer to the night, but Burns has downplayed the emotional weight of returning to former stops. He said it does not mean more or less and would not matter where he was playing, because at this stage it is only about getting to the next step, one at a time.
Nick Schultz, who knew Burns from his younger days in Minnesota, remembered a player who arrived in a good mood and leaned into everything, from being the guy who first feared snakes to becoming someone who somehow ended up with a bunch of them, and from teaching himself guitar to collecting six guitars. Schultz said Burns was all in on everything and carried the kind of mindset that let him turn a dare into a point of pride.
For Colorado, the immediate task is simple: protect a series lead and keep moving. For Burns, the larger story is already written in the numbers, and the longest run in the league is still going.
