GLENDALE – Coyotes defenseman Adrian Aucoin played in his 1,000th NHL regular-season game tonight at Jobing.com Arena.

Photo by Norm Hall

The Coyotes saluted Aucoin for his accomplishment with a ceremony before the team’s game vs. Chicago at Jobing.com Arena. The Coyotes and Blackhawks are two of the six NHL teams Aucoin has played for during his NHL career, which he began in 1994-95 with the Vancouver Canucks.

Aucoin’s wife and their five children joined him on the ice for the pre-game ceremony, which featured a video that contained highlights of his career and congratulatory messages from teammates, past and present.

• Click here to watch the pre-game video shown at the arena.

Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney presented Aucoin with a silver stick and teammates Shane Doan, Ed Jovanovski, Keith Yandle and Vernon Fiddler presented him with a watch and a desk for his home office.

Adrian Aucoin

“I’m excited because I think it’s something to be very proud of,” Aucoin recently said about reaching the milestone. “When you first break into the league, playing 1,000 games is not something that even crosses your mind. At that point you just want to make it into the NHL and stick. As a fifth-round draft choice my first couple of years in the league were kind of like a honeymoon where I was so excited just to be here. Then after that it took a couple more years for me to establish myself as the kind of player I wanted to be. So just to be one of the guys to have played 1,000 games is special because it means I’ve done something right. Again, it’s something that I’m really proud of.”

Aucoin, 37, has notched 119 goals and 267 assists in his NHL career. He has also played in 56 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

• Click here to listen to Aucoin's post-game comments on Sunday.