MAJOR MILESTONE

Over his six-decades in and around the game at its highest level, partnering, playing against, plotting against, tutoring or studying the position's elite, Al MacNeil has seen it all.
The former Flames coach has seen them all.
From Harvey to Orr, Pilotte to Potvin, Robinson to MacInnis, Chelios to Coffey to Lidstrom to Bourque.

"Every decade's different,'' cautions the matchless MacNeil, nodding down at Mark Giordano, hours before the Flames captain marked his 700th career NHL game when he took to the ice against the Flyers Monday, "but this guy here could've played at any time.
"In any era.
"He's not only tough. He's tough-minded.
"There's a humility to him. He's proud to have played 700 games, but he understands what it took for him to get here. He'll never lose sight of that.
"He's made of determination, this guy. He can play with the best or against the best. You've got to remember, for a while nobody believed in him - except himself.
"That's why he'll always be a good player, from today until the moment he puts away his skates and his stick.
"He doesn't wait. He takes things upon himself.
"He doesn't know any other way."

By now, the Giordano story is familiar hereabouts.
He was undrafted.
The pre-glory days toiling for the Lowell Lock Monster and the
Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights
.
Exiting for the Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Super League, dissatisfied with the offer of a two-way contract in the summer of 2007.
His return to the Saddledome after one winter away.
Establishing himself as an everyday NHLer, then difference-maker, then a captain, then a star and a pillar of the community.
The road has been paved with as many potholes as yellow bricks.
Coming on a dozen years have passed since NHL Game No. 1 for Giordano at the then-named Saavis Centre in St. Louis.
"I was pretty nervous,'' he admits, laughing at the recollection. "(Dion) Phaneuf was my partner for the first one.
"Oh, I remember it, for sure.
"Seems like a real long time ago now.
"Obviously, I had a lot of ups and downs early in my career. A lot of adversity. I always reflect, I always look back every time you have one of these (milestones).
"A lot of people were like 'Oh, you weren't drafted …' But honestly, some of that helped me. I didn't have all these expectations to deal with. Not being interviewed by a thousand teams, getting all those tough questions.
"Yeah, there were tons of moments when I was thinking of going to school, playing over-age, getting a lot of letters from different universities and thinking about which one I wanted to go.
"But you have to give a lot of credit to our organization. When I came in Darryl (Sutter) was the GM and coach and he said: 'If you play well, you'll play. Doesn't matter where you were drafted or if you were drafted.'
"He obviously kept his word."

What does Giordano, at 34, continue to mean to the only NHL organization he's ever known?
Well, start by asking a 23-year-old only 652 starts behind him on the games-played list.
"The ultimate leader in my eyes,'' says young blueliner Brett Kulak. "A guy who sets the tone by example but speaks up at the right times so when he does talk, everyone listens.
"The example he sets … his compete level, his consistency, his attitude towards the game. He always wants to the best and he's always looking for better.
"I haven't had the exact same pro path as Gio but I've had to come up through the minors, too, 40 games in the East Coast League my first year.
"So he's a guy I've always kept in mind, on the days when I've felt down. It's like: 'Gio didn't just hop right in, either, and be a star. He had to earn it, every year. And I do, too.'"
Or ask his current coach.
"It's almost everything,'' lauds Glen Gulutzan. "His professionalism. His leadership. His compete level. He's our engine. I've said that a number of times.
"It's undisputed by any guy.
"They you add the person element to it, everything he does away from the rink. To not only make his game better but what he does off the ice to make life better for lots of people.
"I think he epitomizes everything we want to be in this organization.
The year spent in Russia helped fast-track Giordano's progress.
"To me,'' says MacNeil, "that year benefited him enormously in handling and moving the puck.
"If he'd stayed here, who knows how much longer it would've taken to reach that level in those areas.
"But that just shows the strength of the guy, to be willing to do something like that."

As ex-Flames coach/assistant coach Jim Playfair, a fellow D-man during his playing days, said:
"I don't think he went to Russia because he liked the weather there. I don't think he went to Russia to learn Russian. He didn't go to make a bunch of money. He didn't go to stick it up anybody's --.
"He went over there to play."
The wide-ranging scope of experience, both the good and the frustrating, have gone into forming the player of today.
Happy milestone, captain.
"I'm proud of playing 700,'' says Giordano. "But it's only700. For me, that 1,000 number has always been the gold standard.
"I still feel fresh. I still feel good.
"I still love playing.
"If the body holds up, I'd love to play 700 more."