CHICAGO -- Chris Chelios has played in 1,619 career NHL games, by far the most among active hockey players. But none of those can compare to what No. 1,620 is going to be like.

Chelios, a native Chicagoan who turns 47 in January, practiced with his Red Wings teammates on Wednesday and came away a little awestruck from skating at Wrigley Field. The Red Wings and Chelios' former team, the Chicago Blackhawks, will play the first hockey game at Wrigley on Thursday at noon CT.

"I hope I'm not taking it for granted, but just the fact that we're playing hockey here is pretty amazing," Chelios said. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think of today's practice, just sitting out there, looking at the bleachers, seeing Murphy's [Bleachers bar] across the street. Seeing it from an ice rink is a little different."

Chelios has more Wrigley experience than the rest of the Detroit roster combined. He started going to games as a kid in the 1970s and continued to do so while playing for the hometown Blackhawks in the 1990s. He still remembers his first Cubs game.

"I was with my uncle and my dad. It was the days of Billy Williams, Glenn Beckert, Ron Santo," Chelios said. "Way up in the upper deck, I can remember. That's the only place I could get in. A lot of good memories here."

In more recent action, Chelios threw a ceremonial first pitch (two pitches, actually) and conducted "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at a Cubs game four months ago. His first pitch went over the catcher's head and hit the backstop, and Chelios wanted a do-over. The catcher, one Eddie Vedder, obliged.

For the seventh-inning stretch, he brought a special guest -- the Stanley Cup. That night, Chelios headed south with the revered trophy to U.S. Cellular Field for a White Sox-Rays game. Both the Cubs and White Sox lost that day.

In another Wrigley outing a few years ago, Chelios convinced Swedish teammates Henrik Zetterberg and Nicklas Lidstrom to join him.

"I gave [them] the full Murphy's ... Wrigley ... Murphy's again tour," Chelios said with a laugh. "You have to come experience this."

Lidstrom said a highlight was getting to meet Sammy Sosa.

"It was a great experience coming here, I've heard lots about it," said Lidstrom, who has been to games at Comerica Park in Detroit. "It was a big thrill for me, being in this historic ballpark."

Chelios starred for the Blackhawks from 1990-99, but has played his last decade with the rival Red Wings. He missed the first two months of this season with a broken leg, but rehabbed quickly enough to make it back for this special game in his hometown. He will become the oldest athlete to play at Wrigley since first baseman Julio Franco, then 47, with the Mets in 2006.

"I'm real lucky to be a part of it, especially being at the end of my career," said Chelios, who made sure to note that wasn't a retirement statement. "I'm not going to make any All-Star teams, so this is the next best thing."