As egregious as it sounds, the NHL was once a league in which pundits believed players like Mark Streit weren’t worth a roster spot because of their size.
Back when Streit first tested the waters in North America as an undrafted 20-year-old, teams swooned over defensemen with great height and strength.
That's why Streit played just 43 games in the AHL for the Springfield Falcons in 1999-2000. He also had brief stints with the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks of the ECHL and the Utah Grizzlies of the now-defunct IHL but decided the best route for his career would be to return to his native Switzerland to hone his game.
“I wanted to come back after that year but I didn’t get a two-way deal,” Streit explained before Monday’s 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning (see game story). “I just got offered an American Hockey League deal. For me, it didn’t make any sense so I decided to go back [home] and work on my game and just get better.”
Streit spent the next five seasons with the ZSC Lions in the Nationalliga, a Swiss elite league, and got to work. He figured he'd get another shot at the NHL, he would just need another opportunity after polishing his all-around game.
His hard work paid off eventually, too. Streit caught the eye of the Montreal Canadiens during the IIHF World Championships and was drafted as a 26-year-old in the ninth round of the 2004 NHL draft.
Streit remained with the Lions during the 2004-05 NHL lockout, but eventually made his way to Montreal for the 2005-06 campaign.
NHL
"That was actually my plan," he said. "Just play good hockey in Switzerland and play great at the Worlds and hopefully a team would pick me up and give me a shot. Montreal did and I’m thankful for that. I’m really happy I got the opportunity to play in the NHL and to establish myself."
Streit, now 38 and with the Flyers, appeared in his 700th career NHL contest Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center. In doing so, he became just one of 10 active defensemen in the league with 700 games played and 400-plus points.
If you count his time in Switzerland, Streit has appeared in close to 1,100 professional games. Had he received a chance earlier in his career, he likely would've exceed the 1,000-game mark in the NHL by now.
That doesn't bother Streit, however. He's enjoyed the unique path hockey has taken him on.
"Being here for that long, I’m pretty proud of it," he said. "I never expected having such a good run, great career so far. I wanna keep going and keep playing as long as possible."
Standing at 5-foot-11 and weighing 191 pounds, Streit has recorded 89 goals and 313 assists during his NHL run with the Canadiens, Islanders and Flyers.
He now finds himself helping a fellow blueliner once considered too small to make an impact in Shayne Gostisbehere. Streit has been offering advice to Gostisbehere in all aspects in the game and has even stepped aside to allow the rookie to run the top power-play unit at times.
But that doesn't mean Streit is thinking about retirement. He still has one year remaining on his contract with the Flyers and has no plans on slowing down anytime soon.
So you can bank on him playing 300 more games so he can reach 1,000 in the NHL, right?
“Probably," he said with a laugh. "I feel great and I love the game. We’ll see what happens. I’ll keep going.”