Devils' Salvador announces retirement, readies for 'next shift'
Veteran defenseman Bryce Salvador officially announced his retirement from the NHL on Wednesday by putting pen to paper for a stirring piece in The Players' Tribune.
The New Jersey Devils captain had been mulling his options for the upcoming 2015-16 season, but elected to call it a career while recovering from a bulging disc and nerve damage in his back.
"Today, I am retiring from the National Hockey League. I achieved my goal of coming back so that my boys would be able to remember me as an NHL player, and now I am content to step away on my own terms," the 39-year-old Manitoba native wrote. "But I am not leaving hockey, and I am not leaving New Jersey or the Devils. This organization never stopped believing in me, even when I was spinning around in office chairs."
Salvador, who will work with the Devils and with youth hockey organizations in New Jersey, finished with two assists in 15 contests after missing the final 67 games of the 2014-15 season. He collected 24 goals, 86 assists and 696 penalty minutes in 786 career games with the St. Louis Blues and Devils.
"I’m ready for my next shift, one that includes spending time with my wife and boys," Salvador wrote. "Thank you to everyone who made this journey possible. ... No matter what anybody says, they can't take this away from me: I played in the freaking NHL."
(h/t The Players' Tribune)
