Matt Cooke will play in 1,000th NHL game Tuesday vs. Oilers

The NHL's biggest pest to the knees of opposing players for the last 999 games against him will play in his 1000th NHL game Tuesday. Matt Cooke will eclipse the milestone in Minnesota and be presented with a silver stick.

Cooke spent his first nine NHL seasons with the Vancouver Canucks before a brief stint with the Washington Capitals, followed by five seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He now plays for the Minnesota Wild.

Through his 15 seasons, Cooke has scored 384 points and tallied 1,120 penalty minutes. He has been suspended nine times for a total of 51 games.

Cooke is the 286th player to reach 1000 NHL games. Think about that: Matt Cooke has played more games than all but 285 other NHL players in history.