Andrew Desjardins and His Long Road to the NHL

BOSTON — Andrew Desjardins has negotiated his way through the back roads and turnpikes of pro hockey without the benefit of a rearview mirror.

Desjardins has never looked back since making his debut for the Laredo Bucks of the Central Hockey League in 2007-08. Undrafted and essentially unwanted after four years of junior hockey with Sault Ste. Marie of the Ontario Hockey League, Desjardins got his start in a league not many players ever escaped from.

He moved up a notch to Phoenix of the ECHL for five games the next year, then was brought up to Worcester on Oct. 30, 2008. After playing in 212 straight games — 235 including playoffs — Desjardins was summoned to San Jose on March 6, 2011.

True to his career path, he never went back to the AHL and on Thursday night here was taking his regular shift with the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks in their 4-2 loss to the Bruins.

“If I hadn’t gone to Worcester when I did, if I hadn’t gotten called up then, I don’t know what would have happened to me,” Desjardins recalled after the game.