Minnesota Wild forward Matt Cooke will reach a career milestone tomorrow night against the Edmonton Oilers.

The left wing is set to play in his 1,000th NHL game on Tuesday, March 11 when the Wild hosts the Edmonton Oilers at 7 p.m. at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild will honor Cooke for reaching the 1,000-game NHL milestone in a special pre-game ceremony on Tuesday.

The 35-year-old will become the 286th player in NHL history to reach the 1,000-game milestone and the third this season (Robyn Regehr and Martin St. Louis). The 5-foot-11, 208-pound native of Belleville, Ont., will also be the fourth player to play his 1,000th game in a Wild sweater joining defenseman Keith Carney (Feb. 24, 2008 vs. Calgary), left wing Andrew Brunette (Feb. 1, 2011 vs. Los Angeles) and center Matt Cullen (Jan. 10, 2012 vs. San Jose).

Cooke has collected 384 points (162-222=384), a plus-61 rating, 2,013 hits and 1,120 penalty minutes (PIM) in 999 games during his 15-year career. He ranks 10th amongst active players in hits, 13th in PIM and 28th in games played. Cooke won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2009 and has recorded 33 points (13-20=33) and 129 PIM in 97 career playoff games. He was originally selected by Vancouver in the sixth-round (144th overall) of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. Cooke made his NHL debut with the Canucks on Oct. 14, 1998 against Edmonton and scored his first career NHL goal against the Oilers on Jan. 25, 2000 (Bill Ranford). He played in 566 games in parts of nine seasons with the Canucks, 17 contests with the Washington Capitals during the 2007-08 season, 352 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins (2008-13) and 64 games with Minnesota this season. Cooke also represented Canada at the 2004 World Championship and the 1998 World Junior Championship.

Matt and his wife, Michelle, established The Cooke Family Foundation of Hope as a non-profit foundation in 2006. The Foundation provides opportunities and assistance to registered charity organizations within Canada. The Foundation’s efforts focus on those organizations that provide assistance to individuals faced with health, financial and emotional life challenges.