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Good-natured needling aside, Giordano will turn 40 on Tuesday. Goalie Craig Anderson was the oldest NHL player last year, at 41, but the mantle has passed to Giordano, who will be the 95th NHLer to play after his 40th birthday. He says he has no intention of retiring 鈥渦ntil I really lose the desire to play, or if you fall off so much that you know you can鈥檛 contribute anymore.鈥�

鈥淚 can still play at a level that helps the team,鈥� Giordano says. 鈥淎nd, obviously, it would be a lot different if I had a (Stanley) Cup in my back pocket. But not having one, and not having had that experience, you keep chasing it 鈥檛il they kick you out.鈥�

Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe is no rush to force Giordano to the sidelines. With injuries piling up last November, Giordano was the team鈥檚 No. 1 defenceman for a stretch.

鈥淗e was a top-four defenceman for us on what was a very good team last year in the regular season,鈥� Keefe said. 鈥淎nd he played a huge role for us, bigger than we had anticipated because of the number of injuries we had up until the trade deadline.

鈥淗e鈥檚 in the best shape I鈥檝e seen him in from a conditioning standpoint. That bodes well in terms of him being able to fight off Father Time.鈥�

Gordie Howe had the best season of his career at age 40 (44 goals, 103 points) and played until he was 52. Jaromir Jagr played in the NHL until he was 46, and continues to play in the Czech league at 52. Both Joe Thornton and Allan Stanley played for the Leafs at 43. So Giordano has a way to go to catch them.

Still, how does Giordano do it? There鈥檚 a science behind it, says Lawrence Spriet, a professor in the college of biological science at the University of Guelph. Spriet studies how skeletal muscle generates the energy needed for athletes to compete. He has worked with the Leafs, as well as other teams across the NHL and in basketball and soccer, studying the effects of dehydration in sports.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just a combination of things,鈥� Spriet says. 鈥淕iordano must have the genetics on his side. And he seems like a very smart guy in terms of taking care of himself.鈥�

Spriet says most people have lost five per cent of their muscle mass by age 40, but adds that鈥檚 only an average and Giordano appears to be an outlier.

鈥淚n Giordano鈥檚 case, he鈥檚 a big man,鈥� Spriet says. 鈥淪o that helps because it鈥檚 a very physical game. He plays a position that maybe doesn鈥檛 require the top-end speed of some of the forwards. He maintains his fitness. They all try to, but some people are more successful than others. Another big thing is getting through all those years without a major injury.鈥�

Giordano鈥檚 worst injury 鈥� and there haven鈥檛 been many 鈥� was a torn biceps back in 2015.

The defenceman鈥檚 desire to win the Stanley Cup is another factor that works in his favour, Spriet says. 鈥淭he mental side, the motivation, the desire, is also a big one. When you鈥檙e around players, you can see how years of playing hockey has worn them down mentally because they鈥檝e had injuries and now they鈥檝e got a family and they鈥檝e got kids and they got all these other things. So I think it鈥檚 pretty remarkable to maintain that desire as a 40-year-old.鈥�

The biggest thing, Spriet says, is rest and recovery.

鈥淎s they get older, all athletes in every sport start to realize that they need to take good care of their bodies. Some of them don鈥檛 do it quite as well when they鈥檙e younger, because that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e like when we鈥檙e young. We think we can do everything when we鈥檙e young and we usually can. And we figure that if we have a night without sleep, it doesn鈥檛 matter. But when you get older, you realize you can鈥檛 do that.

鈥淎long with the recovery, there鈥檚 your nutrition, your hydration, what you鈥檙e consuming. When we work with the players, some of them don鈥檛 believe us when we say that when you lose about two per cent of your body mass through sweating, you start to feel tired and you鈥檙e mentally not as sharp.鈥�

It also helps that the Leafs have the NHL鈥檚 biggest medical and performance staff, and relay the message of recovery to the players.

鈥淚鈥檓 really focusing on the rest in between games,鈥� Giordano says. 鈥淢aybe take some pre-game skates off here and there like they like to tell me, which I hate. But really maybe pay attention a little bit more to the science part of it.鈥�

He says he wants to play all 82 games but, 鈥淚鈥檓 not a dummy either. I鈥檓 not naive to think that there鈥檚 times where they鈥檙e going to probably want me to take breaks or a rest.鈥�

Giordano became the NHL鈥檚 all-time leader in blocked shots (2,078) last season, leading the Leafs with 147. He had four goals and 20 assists, and played just under 19 minutes a game. But the playoffs didn鈥檛 go well for him. He was minus-9 and barely touched the ice in the final two games of the Leafs鈥� second-round series against Florida.

Giordano is using that as motivation.

鈥淚 know I鈥檓 better than those last few games of the last season. So I鈥檓 coming back with a fresh outlook right now. It鈥檚 all in the past. Just come out again and try to reestablish your game and improve yourself. I know that sounds funny because I鈥檓 40, but I鈥檓 always looking to get better and find new ways to contribute. The game is changing. So you have to as well.鈥�