Published: March 11, 2008 09:36 am         

Drake goes for 1,000 tonight

39-year-old Wing slated to play in milestone game

TRAVERSE CITY -- A little more than a month ago, Dallas Drake crept a little closer to the big 4-0.

Tonight, he'll hit four digits.

When the Detroit Red Wings host the Chicago Blackhawks, the 39-year-old right winger will play in his 1,000th regular-season NHL contest.

It's not something Drake could have imagined when he was a sixth-round draft choice out of Northern Michigan University, which will make it even more exciting.

"Nobody expects it when you come into the league," Drake said. "You just want an opportunity to play in the league and the last thing you're thinking about is playing in 1,000 games.

"But it'll be a thrill. I'm looking forward to it."

So is Drake's family. Wife Amy, a former standout athlete at Leland High School, came down on Monday for the contest along with the couple's four children.

Drake, drafted by Detroit in 1989, first donned the winged-wheel in 1992 after a stellar four-year career with the Wildcats.

After two seasons in Detroit, Drake was traded to Winnipeg and moved along with the team to Phoenix. Drake went to St. Louis for six seasons beginning in 2000 before signing a one-year contract back with his original team.

One constant about his 15 seasons in the NHL is what Drake brings to a team.

He's topped the 40-point plateau four times and exceeded his rookie total of 44 just once, when he posted 45 in 1999-2000, his final season in Phoenix.

Drake -- who lives in Traverse City -- has been a 20-goal scorer once in his career.

This season with the Wings, Drake has three goals among five points.

But the term "gritty" always seems to be an adjective when describing Dallas Drake.

"That's how I've played my whole career," Drake said. "I've never been thought of as a big goal scorer. Obviously I had a few more points in previous seasons than I have in my last few.

"You're role changes every year. Right now for me it's to be physical, play good defense and to try and kill penalties. Obviously I forecheck when I can and try to deliver a big hit when I can.

"That's the way I could stay in this league."

This six-foot, 186-pounder isn't making any predictions about where or what he'll be doing next season.

"I've always said I'll play year to year," Drake said. "I'll see how my body feels and re-evaluate it at the end of the season.

"Its tough being away from my family, but the good thing is we're winning a lot more games."

Detroit (45-18-6) leads the NHL in points with 96, eight better than San Jose.

The Wings head into tonight's contest on a three-game winning streak. Prior to that, Detroit lost 10 of 11 contests, scoring just one victory in between a 3-2 overtime victory against Minnesota on Feb. 5 and a 4-2 win over Buffalo on March 2.

Ironically, Drake picked up his third goal of the season in the triumph over the Sabres.

Drake said the team endured its 1-10 stretch far better than those around the club.

"Even when we went through that stretch, there were five or six games we could have won," Drake said. "We were really banged up, but we continued to do good things.

"I think we've started to play better. We got a lot of guys back and obviously we've won three in a row."

Now Drake would love to make it four straight. He couldn't think of a better way to celebrate game No. 1,000 -- except for maybe a couple of points.

"We'll see what happens," Drake said.