 Due to the much greater number of teams, the greater salaries paid to today's players, and the greater number of games played in a season, the list is dominated by post-expansion players.No NHL player surpassed 1,000 games before Gordie Howe on November 26, 1961, against the Chicago Black Hawks.Only 17 players in the top 100 started their careers before the expansion era, and only two players—Red Kelly and Bill Gadsby—played in more than 1,000 games and finished their careers "before" the expansion era.