DENVER (AP) — Brent Burns took a wayward stick to the face while playing for San Jose in October 2013 that ended up costing him teeth and time on the ice.
Since his return — Nov. 21, 2013, to be precise — he's been a permanent fixture in every lineup. Burns, now 41 years old and with the Colorado Avalanche, is set to play in his 1,000th straight regular-season game Saturday at Dallas.
The bearded blueliner has skated through the bumps and bruises that come with delivering checks and deflecting slap shots. So much so that Avalanche coach Jared Bednar can’t wait to one day sit down with Burns and discuss all the ailments that may have kept many a player sidelined for days, weeks and maybe even months.
“He plays through them like it’s not a big deal,” said Bednar, whose team currently owns the NHL's top seed with eight games remaining, including the pivotal contest with the Stars (six points back). “(The streak) is an incredible accomplishment. It’s hard to believe.”
Burns, who turned 41 on March 9, joined the Avalanche on a one-year deal this season to chase the only thing missing from his resume — a Stanley Cup title.
He's become another leader/mentor on the Avalanche. He still chips in goals, too, on a high-scoring team that boasts Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Martin Necas. Burns has 11 tallies this season, joining Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom as the only defensemen in league history to notch double-digit goals at 40 or older.
But Burns' specialty remains putting his 6-foot-5, 228-pound frame to good use on opponents who venture into his territory. That’s what makes his streak so remarkable — all the punishment he dishes out and takes. He’s closing in on the all-time ironman streak held by forward Phil Kessel, who played in 1,064 consecutive regular-season games from Nov. 3, 2009, to April 13, 2023.
“It's the same guy that we've been watching for a decade-plus, doing the exact thing,” Bednar said. “To have guys with these ironman streaks get to a certain point ... that’s an unbelievable career and accomplishment just to get that as a player total, never mind in a row.”
It’s a streak Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog fully appreciates. Landeskog missed three full regular seasons after helping the Avalanche to the 2022 Stanley Cup title because of a lingering knee injury.
“He comes to the rink with a great attitude," Landeskog explained. "He wants to be here. He’s excited to come to work.”
Burns also arrives to the rink lugging around his military-style backpack that’s stuffed with everything necessary to keep him on skates. There’s a cloud of mystery surrounding the precise contents of the heavy pack, though. Whatever it may contain — rumors of recovery gear to his own coffee setup — there's no denying it's become a healing elixir. Burns is in his 22nd NHL season and about to play in his 1,572nd career contest Saturday. The 2016-17 Norris Trophy winner is still averaging nearly 19 minutes a game and has 83 blocked shots this season.
The streak certainly impresses goaltender Scott Wedgewood.
“In my position alone, you’ll do something one game and your hip locks up a little bit,” Wedgewood said. “It’s like, ‘Thank God, I’m not playing the next one. It feels like crap right now.’
“That happens 15 times a year, just on me, let alone taking body checks and slap shots. Playing as much as he does now at that age, keeping that body fresh and everything? He probably wouldn’t be the one to tell you, but he’s probably played through thousands of different nuances.”
Burns made his NHL debut on Oct. 8, 2003, with Minnesota after being a first-round pick by the Wild. He spent seven seasons with Minnesota, 11 in San Jose and three more in Carolina before joining Colorado.
His lone appearance in the Stanley Cup final was in 2016 with the Sharks, where they lost in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Burns has played in 135 career playoff contests.
His current games streak started Nov. 21, 2013 — he played right wing that season — when he returned from his injury and promptly scored a goal. In his 999th straight game Wednesday against Vancouver, he delivered a goal and an assist to become the fifth different defensemen to notch a 30-point season while in their 40s.
“It’s just ridiculous,” Makar said of the streak before suffering an upper-body injury Monday against Calgary that will keep him out a few games. “For him to be able to go out there every night and make an impact, and not just float around and do the minimum, is pretty spectacular, especially at his age.”
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Washington Capitals center Dylan Strome (17) passes the puck against Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns (84) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, March 22, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns, left, drives past Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dylan Samberg in the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns (84) smiles at his teammates at the end of the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks, Friday, March 20, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
After crashing his SUV last week in Florida, Tiger Woods took out his phone and told a deputy, “I was just talking to the president,” according to body camera footage released Thursday showing Woods' arrest on a DUI charge.
The phone conversation was not captured on video, but Woods could be heard saying, “Thank you so much,” as he hung up and the deputy approached. It wasn't clear if Woods was referring to President Donald Trump, whose former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump, is dating Woods.
Shortly after the golfer's March 27 arrest, Trump was asked about Woods and told reporters: “I feel so badly. He’s got some difficulty. Very close friend of mine. He’s an amazing person. Amazing man. But, some difficulty.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Trump spoke to Woods after the crash.
The footage also shows how Woods appeared to be astonished as he was handcuffed after failing a sobriety test and a video from the back of the patrol car shows the handcuffed golfer hiccupping, yawning and repeatedly appearing to nod off during the 15-minute ride.
Woods told authorities he was looking at his phone and changing the radio station when his speeding Land Rover clipped the back of a truck and rolled onto its side on a residential road on Jupiter Island. No one was injured.
“I looked down at my phone, and all of a sudden — boom,” Woods told an officer as he knelt on a lawn, prior to his arrest.
Body camera footage shows Martin County Sheriff’s Deputy Tatiana Levenar then conducting a roadside sobriety test and telling Woods: “I do believe your normal faculties are impaired, and you’re under an unknown substance, so at this time you’re under arrest for DUI."
“I’m being arrested?” Woods responded.
“Yes, sir,” Levenar said.
After handcuffing Woods, authorities searched his pockets and found two white pills.
“That’s a Norco,” Woods said after an officer pulled out the pills, referring to a painkiller that contains acetaminophen and the opioid hydrocodone. Authorities would later confirm that Woods was in possession of hydrocodone.
In the body camera footage, Woods told Levenar that he had not drunk any alcohol and that he had taken “a few” medications earlier in the day, though Woods’ words are muted in the released video as he describes some of the drugs.
At the sheriff’s office complex, after Woods was escorted into the “DUI room” where drivers are tested for being under the influence, Woods said, “I’m not drunk. I’m on a prescription medication,” according to a supplemental sheriff’s office report released Thursday.
Woods, 50, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to suspicion of driving under the influence. He posted a statement Tuesday night saying that he was stepping away indefinitely “to seek treatment and focus on my health.”
Woods agreed to a Breathalyzer test that showed no signs of alcohol, but he refused a urine test, authorities said. Under a change to Florida law last year, refusing an officer’s request to take a breath, blood or urine test became a misdemeanor, even for a first offense.
During the field sobriety test, deputies noticed Woods limping and that he had a compression sock over his right knee. Woods explained he had undergone seven back surgeries and over 20 surgeries on his right leg, and that his ankle seizes up while walking.
Woods, who was hiccupping during questioning, continuously moved his head during one of the sobriety tests and deputies had to tell him several times to keep his head straight, according to an arrest report.
“Based on my observations of Woods, how he performed the exercises and based on my training, knowledge, and experience, I believed that Woods normal faculties were impaired, and he was unable to safely operate the motor vehicle,” Levenar wrote.
Woods is the most influential figure in golf and has become as recognizable as any athlete in the world. The first person of Black heritage to win the Masters in 1997, he has captivated golf fans with records likely never to be broken.
His injuries have kept him from accomplishing more, including from a 2021 Los Angeles car crash that damaged his right leg so badly he said doctors considered amputation. He has not played an official event since the 2024 British Open. He was recovering from a seventh back surgery in October and was trying to return at the Masters, where he is a five-time champion.
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Associated Press writer Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida, contributed to this report.
In this image from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods sits in an unmarked police vehicle as he speaks with law enforcement personnel following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
In this image from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods speaks on his cellphone following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
In this image from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods speaks on his cellphone as he steps out of an unmarked police vehicle following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
In this image from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods hangs up his cellphone and tells a sheriff deputy “I was just talking to the president" following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
In this image from video provided by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods is strapped into a police vehicle following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
In this image from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods performs a field sobriety test for sheriff's deputies following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
In this image from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods is taken into custody by sheriff's deputies following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
In this image from video provided by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods is strapped into a police vehicle following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
In this image taken from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods performs a field sobriety test for sheriff's deputies following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
Golfer Tiger Woods stands by his overturned vehicle in Jupiter Island, Fla., on Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jason Oteri)
In this image taken from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods speaks with sheriff's deputies following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
In this image taken from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, sheriff's deputies holds two pills from a search of golfer Tiger Woods' pants following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Department via AP)
In this image taken from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods is taken into custody by sheriff's deputies following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
In this image taken from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods performs a field sobriety test for sheriff's deputies following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
The Martin County Sheriff's Office welcome sign is displayed outside Friday, March 27, 2026 (AP Photo/Jim Rassol)
This handout photo provided by the Martin County Sheriff's Office shows Tiger Woods, in Stuart, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
Tiger Woods leaves the Martin County Sheriff's Office jail facility following his involvement in a car crash where he was arrested on a DUI charge on Friday, March 27, 2026 (AP Photo/Jim Rassol)
FILE- Golfer Tiger Woods stands by his overturned vehicle in Jupiter Island, Fla., March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jason Oteri, File)
