Longtime NHLer Simon Gagne announced he’s retiring after playing 14 seasons in the league.
“Today, I want to thank my trainers and teammates,”
“You inspired me to surpass myself. You made me understand that you need more than talent; it takes sacrifice and discipline and you need to work harder than your rivals. I also wish to thank my fans. Every evening, you energized me and inspired me to perform.”
Drafted 22nd overall back in 1998, Gagne had a very solid career, scoring 291 goals and 601 points in 822 games.
The 35-year-old is most known for his time with the Philadelphia Flyers, where he was one of the best goal scorers in the league. In 2005-06, and 2006-07, the Quebecor had the best seasons of his career, scoring 47 and 41 goals respectively. He was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2010-11, where he began his decline. From the 2011-12 season to 2014-15 (he took the entire 2013-14 season off), Gagne played only 95 games with the Los Angeles Kings, the Flyers and the Boston Bruins, scoring 15 goals.
Gagne not only had regular season success, but he was always a top performer during the playoffs, where he scored 37 goals in 109 games. He won his first and only Stanley Cup as a member of the 2011-12 Kings.
While his career was slowed down by injuries, Gagne still managed to put together an impressive resume. Had he stayed fully healthy, who knows what benchmarks he could have hit? Either way, Gagne will go down as one of the more underrated snipers in NHL history.
