Philadelphia Flyers’ captain Sean Couturier skated in his 800th NHL game on Saturday night. Couturier became the fourth Flyers skater to accomplish the milestone joining Bill Barber (903), Claude Giroux (1,000), and Bobby Clarke (1,144). Sean Couturier should probably buy a lottery ticket as he becomes the 777th player in NHL history to skate in 800 NHL contests.
Sean Couturier gets his flower at Flyers home opener
For the first time in franchise history, Flyers PA announcer Lou Nolan introduced Sean Couturier as the Captain of the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2024-25 home opener. The 20th man to wear the “C” on his Philly jersey was serenaded with a “Cooooots” chant by the Flyers fans in South Philly as he made his entrance to the ice to join his teammates standing patiently at the blue line.
Couturier was honored with the captaincy of the legendary hockey club last February so there were no captaincy theatrics in last season’s home opener. The Flyers captain started on the left wing for the first time in his career last night, however, the team were lethargic in a 3-0 home-opener loss following the season-opening smoke and lights show.
In the first five games of the season, Sean Couturier has accrued one assist and still seeks his first goal. The Flyers captain is nine goals from another NHL milestone, 200 National Hockey League goals.
According to Bill Meltzer with the Flyers website, “roughly 7,500 goalies and skaters have suited up for at least one regular season game”. Removing the 877 goalies who have played an NHL game leaves 6,623 skaters who have played one game. Only 8.2%, or 546 players, have scored 200 NHL career goals.
The American-born Canadian has scored 191 goals and 308 assists for 499 points since being selected with the eighth overall pick by Philadelphia in the 2011 NHL draft. Sean Couturier will become the 16th Flyers skater in history with 500 points for the franchise with his next goal or assist of the season. Vancouver’s head coach, Rick Tocchet, is ahead of “Coots” on the all-time Flyers scoring list with 508 points in a Philly uniform. Bizarrely enough, that same 8% figure from above applies with 549 skaters totaling 500 NHL points.
The Philadelphia Flyers (1-3-1) are next in action in a home-and-home series with the Washington Capitals (3-1-0) beginning on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia.
Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
