Grizzled Brent Burns is lone former Houston Aero left in this year’s chase for Stanley Cup

The Eros have not skated on Houston ice for 13 years.

However, an alumnus of town’s defunct hockey franchise nonetheless has an opportunity to win the game’s most cherished chalice.

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns, who performed 74 video games with the Aeros from 2004-05, is the lone former Aero nonetheless competing in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Avalanche start the Western Conference ultimate in opposition to the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday evening in Denver.

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READ MORE: Why doesn’t Houston have an NHL team? It’s complicated.

The 41-year-old Burns, in his first season with the Avalanche, is no stranger to deep playoff runs. He reached the East ultimate in two of the earlier three years with the Carolina Hurricanes and was on the San Jose Sharks‘2015-16 squad that misplaced to Pittsburgh in a six-game Stanley Cup Final.

Burns’ 1,579 regular-season video games performed with out successful the Stanley Cup are third-most in NHL historical past behind former Sharks teammates Patrick Marleau (1,779) and Joe Thornton (1,714).

Burns is additionally the NHL’s present ironman, with 1,007 consecutive regular-season video games performed, a streak that dates again to November 2013. He’s 58 video games away from passing Phil Kessel (1,064) for the league report, which could delay retirement even when he does win that elusive Stanley Cup.

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After being drafted twentieth total by the Minnesota Wild In the primary spherical in 2003, Burns spent one recreation with the Eros the next season on a conditioning task, notching an help. He then performed your entire 2004-05 season with the Eros as a lockout ultimately canceled the NHL season. In 73 video games throughout that 2004-05 season, Burns had 27 factors (11 objectives, 16 assists) and 57 penalty minutes. He then went pointless because the Eros misplaced in 5 video games to Chicago in the primary spherical of the playoffs.

The second spherical of the NHL playoffs, which concluded Monday, noticed the season finish for 4 former Eros: Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon (Minnesota), Mikael Granlund (Anaheim) and Jason Zucker (Buffalo). Ex-Houston goalie Darcy Kuemper, who backstopped Colorado to the 2022 Stanley Cupnoticed his Los Angeles squad eradicated by his former workforce in the primary spherical.

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This article initially printed at Grizzled Brent Burns is lone former Houston Aero left in this year’s chase for Stanley Cup.