From the time Luke Glendening’s professional hockey career began 14 years ago, the forward knew he needed to specialize in his skills away from the puck in order to claim a stake in the NHL.

Fresh off a four-year collegiate career at the University of Michigan, the undrafted center was told to focus on the finer details of hockey if he hoped to etch himself a career on skates.

“They basically were like, ‘You have to find a way to win faceoffs. You’re not going to score enough to find a role that way.’ So at the beginning of my career I watched a ton of videos, took in any information I could from guys,” Glendening said.

The 35-year-old forward’s homework has more than paid off, as Glendening skated in his 800th NHL game last Tuesday with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Three games in the American Hockey League (AHL) after his final season of college were followed by 27 games in the ECHL in 2012-13, a season that also saw Glendening play 51 games to help the Grand Rapids Griffins win the AHL Calder Cup Championship.

One year later Glendening was playing for coach Mike Babcock with the Detroit Red Wings, the first of 12 consecutive seasons in the NHL.

“I honestly don’t know,” a laughing Glendening said of how he got his first NHL chance.

But Babcock gave him an opportunity, and the forward never returned to minor league hockey.

“Babcock gave me a chance and let me play, and it was kind of a whirlwind. I went from being in the East Coast (ECHL) to playing my first NHL game in about a one-year span, so it was crazy.”

Even now 12 years later, the veteran who is easy to spot by his often present smile–one which features some missing teeth–said being an NHL player is a blessing.

“It’s pretty crazy, honestly,” Glendening said.

“I never thought I was going to play one game, so to have the opportunity to play 800 is obviously incredibly special. Definitely humbled at the opportunity to be able to do that. I feel very blessed to be able to be in this league every day, and I try never to take a day for granted. It’s crazy how quickly they add up.”

Glendening has 79 goals and 80 assists for 159 career points between Detroit, the Dallas Stars and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Glendening has the second-highest 5-on-5 faceoff percentage among centers who have played at least 300 NHL games since 1997, having won 57.9% of his draws. He ranks eighth in all situations at 55.8%.

Tampa Bay assistant coach Jeff Blashill has seen a lot of Glendening. Blashill was the head coach in Detroit for seven of Glendening’s years with the Red Wings from 2015 to 2022.

Blashill said most of Glendening’s success is about the player’s willingness to adapt and work harder than most at the game’s details.

“I think it starts honestly with work ethic,” Blashill said, mentioning that Glendening was not a center when he first got to the AHL. …”I think, finally, outside of work ethic, he’s a good athlete. He’s got good hand-eye, so he’s been able to improve at that skill. And he’s continued to work at it over the years.”

Attacking faceoffs often depend on what a center is most comfortable with, according to the forward who wears No. 11 in Tampa Bay. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to winning draws, but Glendening said you have to bring confidence.

“It’s a little bit of a mentality, but I hate saying that because sometimes you have the right mentality and it just isn’t going for you. And that’s the way it goes,” he said, “but I think you’ve just got to be comfortable in doing what you’re doing and be confident in that.”

Tampa Bay signed Glendening prior to the 2023-24 season. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper still thinks back to the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs when Glendening was playing for Detroit and was tasked with shutting down the Lightning triplets line of Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat.

“He did a heck of a job,” Cooper said of Glendening in that series. “He’s really well liked by his teammates. He’s a guy that it’s really hard to go into the locker room and not look at him and say, ‘Wow. That guy gave his all tonight. I need to give my all, because he really sacrifices himself for the game.’ Just a great guy to have on the team.”

Blashill said it took him awhile to recognize how good Glendening could be, but the player continued to stand out in his own way.

“Not everybody gets to be the top scorer. There’s only going to be a few Nikita Kucherovs, a few Brayden Points. So then you’ve got to figure out as a player, ‘How can I separate myself in other areas?’ Some of those areas are faceoffs, some of it’s penalty killing, some of it’s being really good defensively. And he’s been able to say, ‘Okay, I’m going to be great at those other areas that maybe other guys aren’t great at.’ And because of that, he separated himself all the way to 800 games.”

Toward the end of last Thursday’s pregame skate, the 35-year-old NHL veteran was working one-on-one with rookie Conor Geekie, showing the youngster his tricks of the trade in the faceoff circle.

When Glendening’s agent first called him to say the Lightning were interested in signing him to a contract, the forward was “ecstatic”.

“I love it,” Glendening said of Tampa Bay. “It’s a great organization. I played against them for 10 years, so the opportunity to be part of it was something special. Just being here, the culture that they’ve created, the guys that they bring in, they’ve done an awesome job, and I’m just so thankful to be part of it.

Playing against them I was always like, ‘Man that’d be a nice place to be.’ Whether it was coming down here and just seeing the city or being on the other side of their thumpings over the course of the years, it’s just a great place. My family and I have absolutely loved it here.”