Shanahan Retires

NHL.com reports that after 21 seasons, Brendan Shanahan announced his retirement from the NHL today.

Statement from Shanahan...

"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. "I am enormously grateful to all of my coaches and teammates I've had the privilege of learning from and playing along side of, throughout my career. While I always dreamed of playing in the NHL, I can't honestly say that I would have ever imagined that I'd be this fortunate and blessed. I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has helped me fulfill this dream."

...it's always tough having a star on the backside of his career on your team. On one end you're excited to have a player of his talent on your team. On the other, the talent isn't quite what it used to be. Which is why I always felt guilty criticizing the elder Shanahan and begging that the Rangers organization not re-sign him. Still the right decision as far as I'm concerned.

...what's not tough is praising Shanahan for an amazing career and knowing how lucky I was to see him in the uniform of the team I root for. His leadership is second to only one and his name is Mark Messier.

...Shanahan will always have a place in Rangers fans' hearts for this...