Phil Kessel inches closer to his very own NHL record.

Over the years National Hockey League forward Phil Kessel has become one of the most beloved figures in the sport due in large part to the fact that he is simply different. In a league of cookie cutter answers with an old school type of mindset Kessel has made himself stand out for marching to to the beat of his own drum.

Being loved by fans around the world is one thing, but holding the record for being perhaps the most durable player to ever play in the world's toughest hockey league would be something else entirely.

When you think of Phil Kessel the word tough may not be the first thing that comes to mind, but as more and more time passes it becomes clear that this is exactly how we should think of the man. On Friday night Kessel tied former NHL forward Doug Jarvis for the second longest ironman streak in the history of the NHL, and on Sunday when the Arizona Coyotes face off against the Winnipeg Jets, Kessel will have a chance to take sole possession of second place on that list.

Both Kessel and Jarvis played a staggering 964 career games in a row but while Jarvis' career has long since come to an end, Kessel appears to have plenty left in the tank. In fact once Kessel passes Jarvis on Sunday there will be only one man left who stands in his way, and that man is Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Keith Yandle. Currently Yandle has a streak of 987 games going, but at 35 years of age with his performance dropping off considerably you have to wonder how much longer he will keep playing beyond this season.

While Kessel's numbers have also dipped, this season Kessel has scored 7 goals and added 32 assists for a combined total of 39 points on a struggling Coyotes team, it's hard to imagine that there won't be an NHL contract waiting for him next season if he wants one. It will probably have to come at a significant discount from the cap hit of $8 million he currently earns on his contract that is set to expire at the end of the season, but Kessel has already shown signs that the ironman streak is important to him. Earlier this season Kessel took a single shift for the Coyotes before leaving for the birth of his child, a shift he clearly took to preserve his current streak.

Should Yandle retire, or fail to find an NHL contract anytime soon, Kessel would in theory need less than a full season to surpass the veteran defenseman and claim the record as the NHL's ironman all for his own. Currently Kessel has 1186 NHL games under his belt, split between the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins and the aforementioned Coyotes. Given the impression he has left on many of the fans in those cities I suspect there will be a strong contingent of fans from around the league cheering for him as he attempts to become the NHL's greatest ironman.