most games played in nhl history before 2000

Before 1999-00, Gordie Howe had the most games, with 1,767 games.

Interpreted as:

most regular-season games played by a player in NHL history before 2000

	NAME	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	PPA	SHG	SHA	GWG	OTG	S	S%
1	Gordie Howe G. Howe	1,767	801	1,049	1,850	+160	1,685	211	353	24	12	121		3,803	10.1
2	Alex Delvecchio A. Delvecchio	1,550	456	825	1,281	+24	383	111	265	15	16	75		3,129	10.1
3	Johnny Bucyk J. Bucyk	1,540	556	813	1,369	-7	493	159	284	4	0	92		3,087	16.2
4	Wayne Gretzky W. Gretzky	1,487	894	1,963	2,857	+520	577	204	686	73	76	91	2	5,088	17.6
5	Larry Murphy L. Murphy	1,477	276	880	1,156	+199	1,027	107	417	9	18	35	3	3,377	8.2
6	Ray Bourque R. Bourque	1,453	385	1,083	1,468	+504	1,067	158	533	14	28	60	5	5,733	6.7
7	Tim Horton T. Horton	1,445	115	403	518	+191	1,611	23	75	3	19	21		1,978	4.2
8	Mike Gartner M. Gartner	1,432	708	627	1,335	+68	1,159	217	196	24	5	90	7	5,090	13.9
9	Mark Messier M. Messier	1,413	610	1,050	1,660	+251	1,689	150	354	57	75	76	6	3,669	16.6
10	Harry Howell H. Howell	1,411	94	324	418	-152	1,298	16	94	1	5	15		2,167	3.2
11	Norm Ullman N. Ullman	1,410	490	739	1,229	+7	710	116	172	8	13	59		3,426	12.3
12	Dale Hunter D. Hunter	1,407	323	697	1,020	+101	3,565	92	153	10	17	42	4	2,047	15.8
13	Stan Mikita S. Mikita	1,396	541	926	1,467	+329	1,264	150	312	12	6	84		4,482	12.1
14	Doug Mohns D. Mohns	1,391	248	462	710	-96	1,261	70	176	6	5	40		1,981	9.8
15	Larry Robinson L. Robinson	1,384	208	750	958	+722	793	66	243	3	7	29	0	2,332	8.9
16	Dean Prentice D. Prentice	1,378	391	469	860	-82	487	91	83	8	6	47		2,577	11.3
17	Ron Stewart R. Stewart	1,353	276	253	529	-44	564	40	43	24	15	51		1,567	10.9
18	Marcel Dionne M. Dionne	1,348	731	1,040	1,771	+27	600	234	409	19	11	73	2	5,363	13.6
19	Ron Francis R. Francis	1,329	449	1,037	1,486	+14	865	145	435	11	18	63	2	3,064	14.7
20	Paul Coffey P. Coffey	1,322	385	1,102	1,487	+310	1,732	129	512	20	31	40	1	4,206	9.2
21	Red Kelly R. Kelly	1,316	281	542	823	+50	327	71	161	15	13	41		1,387	9.0
22	Dave Keon D. Keon	1,296	396	590	986	+61	117	67	156	32	16	65		3,946	10.0
23	Phil Esposito P. Esposito	1,282	717	873	1,590	+252	910	246	303	23	12	118		5,166	13.9
24	Jean Ratelle J. Ratelle	1,280	491	776	1,267	+236	276	137	213	4	3	68		2,916	16.8
25	Bryan Trottier B. Trottier	1,279	524	901	1,425	+449	912	161	262	19	20	69	1	2,841	18.4