Veteran St. Louis Blues forward Paul Kariya unable to continue playing, announces retirement
Paul Kariya, one of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) veteran and well-known defenseman, has announced his retirement from the game on Wednesday due to post-concussion symptoms that caused him to miss the whole 2010-2011 regular season and will not be allowing him to return any time soon.
The 36-year-old was drafted in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by Anaheim Ducks as fourth overall during round-one.
He played his 15th season in the league during 2009-2010, which turned out to be his last in which he participated in 75 games and registered 43 points, 18 goals and 25 assists.
"It was my dream to be a professional hockey player in the NHL, from my minor hockey days in North Vancouver and Burnaby, through junior hockey in Penticton, college hockey at the University of Maine, and the Canadian National Team", Kariya said in a statement through his agent. "I would not have achieved it without support from all of these people and organizations".
Kariya was certainly in no mood of retiring but didn’t have a choice after a well known concussion doctor, Mark Lovell, had taken over and told him that he had suffered brain damage from multiple hits throughout his career and playing was not an option.
"He said to me, 'No one in my profession would clear you to play this season' ", Kariya recalled.
He waited the whole season to see if there were any chances of recovery, but as it became clear that the damage had been done, Kariya found it best to retire through his agent, Don Baizley.
The Canadian native from Vancouver, British Columbia, was shocked at his condition and was in an emotional state during the announcement of his retirement.
He thanked all his fans from different cities where he had played, including Anaheim, Nashville and St. Louis.
Throughout his career, he won the Lady Byng Trophy twice, an Olympic gold medal for Canada at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, along with the Hobey Baker Award as the top U.S college hockey player.
He played 989 NHL games from 1994-2010 and registered 989 points, 402 goals and 587 assists.
Kariya will undoubtedly be missed by not only his fans, but all around the league as well for being one of the most dedicated and hard working players the NHL has ever seen.
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