Always the consummate professional, Trevor Lewis reflects after 1,000 games played in the NHL

You never know exactly what to expect when the spotlight is on you.

For Trevor Lewis, he’s rarely found himself in that position throughout his career.

Lewis has a career high of 14 goals in the NHL. He’s never eclipsed 30 points. He’s not a fighter, nor is a known for his big hits. Yet, he’s now played 1,000 games in the NHL, driven by commitment, professionalism and responsibility on the ice. All the things that have made him a favorite of so many different coaches over the years. The same things that routinely go unnoticed, or unvalued, by those watching the games.

Players who play that game that way are rarely spotlighted. Last night, though, Lewis was.

After missing nearly five weeks with a lower-body injury, Lewis returned to the lineup yesterday evening for the Kings to play in his 1,000th career NHL game. It came around a month later than expected, after he left game 999 early due to an injury that wound up costing him the entire month of December.

Turns out, for Lewis, it was worth the wait.

“It was really exciting,” Lewis said. “Just to have all the guys wear the hats in warmups and stuff like that, it was pretty awesome. To grind one out and get a win was even more special.”

Players adorned baseball hats during warmups that said “61K”, a combination of the number Lewis has worn both for Game 1 of his NHL career and Game 1,000, despite being known more for number 22 in between. The Kings have done the hats for Drew Doughty, Alex Edler and Jonathan Quick in recent seasons on milestone nights. A tradition born and continued, just one of many small details to make a night special for a player.

The celebration of Lewis included family, friends and former teammates.

Former Kings Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter, Jake Muzzin, Teddy Purcell and Nate Thompson were all at Saturday’s game to take in their friend’s milestone night. Naturally, Anze Kopitar was on the ice with Lewis, while Drew Doughty watched from the press box. You don’t play 1,000 games alone and having so many former teammates in the building was special to Lewis.

“It means a world to me for these guys to come out and celebrate it with me,” Lewis said. “So I just got a chance to hug them real quick and I can’t wait to go celebrate with them.”

Perhaps the most special appearance, though, came before the game.

Last season, when the Kings honored Anze Kopitar for reaching several franchise milestones and records, his son, Jakob, read the starting lineup in the room before the game. Lewis didn’t think his kids would want to do the same thing here, but with a bit of encouragement from Grandpa Randy Lewis, they came in before the game and read the starters from their dad’s stall in the room.

A moment that he will never forget.

“That was awesome, I wasn’t expecting that,” he said. “My kids are pretty shy, so I didn’t think they’d make it in. That was very special, I got a little choked up there.”

Boone and Brix Lewis (with a little help from Lewy’s dad Randy) read the starting lineup for their dad’s 1000th game 🥹🖤 pic.twitter.com/EKwd8ik34g

— LA Kings (@LAKings) January 5, 2025

On the ice, you really couldn’t have scripted a more Trevor Lewis-esque game to do it, either.

2-1 hockey. If it was 2-1 down, we probably wouldn’t have seen a ton of Lewis on the ice during the third period. Just not his role as a player.

With a 2-1 lead, though, Jim Hiller turned to the man he calls “Wild Thing”, just like Ricky Vaughn from Major League. Just as Vaughn came out of the bullpen in the movie – and again in Major League 2 – to close out the game, the Kings like use Lewis in those situations as well. It wasn’t because it was his milestone game. It was because that’s the role Lewis has here.

“I was talking to the coaches and that’s kind of the perfect way my 1,000th game should have gone,” Lewis said. “To be out there and grind out a win, I thought everyone just played hard.”

There was one play in particular in the third period that Trevor Lewis made that stood out to me.

It wasn’t a boxscore play, wasn’t even an exemplary play. Just a smart, effective play on a night when the Kings didn’t make all that many of them.

Last night against the Lightning, the Kings were not responsible with the puck. Countless odd-man opportunities against. Most of them self inflicted. Still, after Adrian Kempe buried a shot from the slot with just over five minutes remaining, the Kings led 2-1, with an opportunity to steal the two points directly in front of them.

The play referenced here was simple.

Lewis gained possession of the puck on the right wing, inside his own blueline. In a tight game, both bluelines are very important. Pucks in, pucks out. He got the puck out with possession and worked his way to the center red line and got the puck deep into the offensive zone, taking a hit in the process to make the correct play. That’s it. On a night when the Kings turned the puck over how many times, leading to how many outnumbered chances against, Lewis did what he does. He made the simple play in a moment that called for a simple play.

What Lewis did there, and tends to do most times he’s on the ice, is what’s endeared him to coaches over his 1,000 games in the NHL. It’s probably the reason that many on the outside tend to undervalue him. He’s not flashy. He’s not adding a ton in the way of offense to the fourth line. But he’s rarely costing his team, as he hasn’t done for his time in the NHL. In a fourth-line player, the Kings are looking for just that. Reliability. Smart, simple hockey. A fourth line that doesn’t hurt the Kings, allowing the top three to do their thing, is a good night as far as Jim Hiller and his staff are concerned. It’s what Lewis brings and it’s why he’s continued to get opportunities in the NHL.

Now, he’s the 401st player in NHL history to play in 1,000 regular-season games. He’s the 26th to hit that milestone in a Kings jersey, playing 782 of those games with the organization that drafted him back in 2006. Just seven players in franchise history have played more games with the franchise than Lewis.

“I couldn’t have done it with a better organization, a better bunch of guys. I’ve been through a lot here, with the trainers and the guys in here. To do it in a Kings jersey was very special.”

Onto the next thousand.