



By Kyle Shohara

AnaheimDucks.com

It was another full 82-game slate for Andrew Cogliano during the 2015-16 regular season, and it’s come to be expected for the league’s reigning “Iron Man.”

Cogliano has never missed a game in his entire nine-year career. What began on Oct. 4, 2007 with his NHL debut as a member of the Edmonton Oilers has now reached an astonishing 704 regular season games – a streak (to begin a career) second to only one other player in the history of the NHL (Doug Jarvis).

Cogliano, of course, is the NHL's active leader in consecutive games played (704) and owns the sixth-longest streak in NHL history. Only one player in NHL history has played more consecutive games to start his career, and that distinction belongs to Jarvis, who remains the NHL's all-time leader with 964 consecutive games from 1975-88. Cogliano is one of six players in NHL history to have a consecutive games streak of 700 or more, the only other in the last 20 years being St. Louis Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester (737).

True to form, Cogliano was his usual steady self over the course of last season, and while his goal output was the lowest of his career (9), Cogliano still added 23 assists and 32 points to go along with a plus-2 rating.

But it was his diligent work on the club’s touted “shutdown line” with center Ryan Kesler and right wing Jakob Silfverberg that made Cogliano so valuable during the regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs. There’s also his tireless work on the penalty kill, an often over-looked and underappreciated role that many times determines the difference between winning and losing. Cogliano led Anaheim with two shorthanded goals and three shorthanded points, while finishing the season ranked second among Ducks forwards in hits (124) and third in shorthanded time on ice average (1:53).

It’s no easy task drawing the assignment of shutting down the opposition’s top line, but it was one that Cogliano accepted and flourished. It remains to be seen how he’ll be used with head coach Randy Carlyle back in the mix, but the effectiveness of that line over the past two seasons could keep it intact when the upcoming season begins.

When the playoffs rolled around, Cogliano proved once again his ability to elevate his game on the big stage. He finished with two goals and four points in Anaheim’s seven-game first round series against the Nashville Predators, modest numbers no doubt, but an added bonus for a guy whose job is neutralizing the best players on the opposing bench.

HIGHLIGHT

His first goal of the series came in Game 2 at Honda Center, a splendid individual effort that showcased his trademark speed as he flew down the far side to beat Pekka Rinne through the wickets. It is what fans have grown accustomed to seeing during his five years in Orange County, hopefully with many more to come next season.

OUTLOOK

Over the years, Cogliano has evolved into a reliable and dependable top-nine forward who is equally adept at killing penalties and stifling the opposition. Although nearly all of his Ducks career was spent with former head coach Bruce Boudreau at the helm, Cogliano actually played his first 24 games in a Ducks jersey under Carlyle. You can expect him to again be a fixture on the PK and lead by example, both on the ice and inside the locker room.