Jamie Benn will play his 1,000th NHL game tonight, becoming the 5th former Rocket to do so

Jamie Benn will hit a historic mark tonight.

The 33-year-old from Vancouver Island will skate in his 1,000th NHL game when the Dallas Stars host the Anaheim Ducks.

Once the puck drops shortly after 5:30 pm PT and game number 1,000 becomes official, Benn will become the fifth former Kelowna Rockets player to reach that milestone.

And he’ll be the first former Rockets forward to do so, as the first four to hit 1,000 NHL games were Scott Hannan, Duncan Keith, Shea Weber and Alex Edler.

He'll become the fourth Rocket to his the 1000 game mark, joining Duncan Keith, Shea Weber and Alex Edler.

— Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets) February 6, 2023

HOW could we forget!?

Stick taps to @STOLZHockey. https://t.co/0slCLOaAml

— Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets) February 6, 2023

Benn, a fifth-round pick of the Dallas Stars in 2007, joined the Rockets from the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies just weeks after he was drafted into the NHL.

He ended up playing two seasons in Kelowna, scoring 79 goals and adding 68 assists in 107 WHL games.

Benn helped the Rockets to a WHL championship in 2009 and recorded a four-goal game in the Memorial Cup, where Kelowna came up just short of winning the prestigious trophy for a second time.

Benn started the 2009-10 season with the Stars and scored his first NHL goal against his home province team, the Vancouver Canucks, on Oct. 11, 2009.

After establishing himself as one of the league’s premiere forwards, Benn was named the sixth captain in Stars history prior to the 2013 season.

On April 11, 2015, Benn scored four points in Dallas’ final regular season game to reach 87 points on the season and win the Art Ross Trophy.

Benn has twice been named an NHL All-Star over the course of his career and was named to the league’s end-of-year All-Star Teams every year between 2014-16.