|
November 18, 2009
GN.017
Brendan Shanahan, who represented Canada seven times in various competitions, called it a career on
Tuesday, officially announcing his retirement after 21 NHL seasons.
“I would like to thank my family and all of the friends who have helped me achieve and maintain my
childhood dream of playing in the National Hockey League,” Shanahan said in a statement released by the
NHLPA.
The Mimico, Ont., native first donned the maple leaf in 1987 at the IIHF World Junior Championship before
representing his country at two IIHF World Championships (1994, 2006), two Olympics (1998, 2002), one Canada
Cup (1991) and one World Cup of Hockey (1996).
Canada’s 2002 Olympic gold allowed Shanahan, along Rob Blake and Joe Sakic, to join the exclusive Triple
Gold Club, having previously won world championship gold in 1994 – helping end Canada’s 33-year slump – and
the Stanley Cup in 1997 and 1998 with the Detroit Red Wings.
Although he won’t be on the ice, Shanahan will be in Vancouver when the 22 members of the Triple Gold Club
are officially recognized at Molson Canadian Hockey House during the Winter Games on February 22.
The second-overall selection by New Jersey in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, Shanahan finishes his career with
1,354 points in 1,524 games with New Jersey, Hartford, St. Louis, Detroit and the New York Rangers. His 656
goals leave him 11th on the all-time list, and his 109 game-winning goals are good for fifth in history.
Just four months after helping Canada end its 50-year Olympic drought Shanahan rose to the top of the
hockey world again, helping the Red Wings win their third Stanley Cup title in six years and allowing him and
Steve Yzerman to become the first Canadians to win Olympic gold and the Stanley Cup in the same year.
|
