(Dallas) Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill confirmed on Saturday that a degenerative condition affecting goalie Ben Bishop’s right knee is forcing him to end his career in the National Hockey League.
The Stars had recently recalled Bishop after a fitness trip with the Texas Stars’ school club in the American Hockey League. In his only game, Bishop had allowed eight goals on 34 shots. The 35-year-old veteran’s name has since been put on the long-term injured list.
Bishop is due to speak to the media on Tuesday.
“It’s no secret he suffers from a degenerative problem. He went downstairs [dans la LAH]he wanted to be a big part of the organization, ”Nill told the Dallas Morning News representative who interviewed him in San Jose, where the Stars were to face the Sharks on Saturday night.
“At the end of the day, after going through the whole process and going [dans la LAH] to play, he realized that it was the end of his career, ”continued the CEO.
Bishop’s six-year contract with the Stars, worth $ 29.5 million, is valid until the end of the 2022-23 season. The contract was offered to the goalie after the Stars acquired his services from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a fourth-round pick.
Bishop’s last game in the NHL was a 6-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in Game 5 of the Western Association’s final series of the bubble playoffs in Edmonton. , August 31, 2020.
Embarrassed by the knee injury, Bishop had only played one game in each of the first three series. Anton Khudobin took over in goal and the Stars lost in six games in the Stanley Cup Final to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Bishop had undergone meniscus surgery after the 2019-20 season, then missed the entire shortened 2020-2021 season in which the Stars missed the playoffs.
Bishop was also the Lightning’s No. 1 goalie in 2014-15 when the team came close to two Stanley Cup victories. Stars head coach Rick Bowness was an assistant coach with the Lightning at the time.
“It hurts,” Bowness commented. I feel so bad for him because he’s such a good person and like I’ve always said when he’s in good shape he’s one of the top three goalies in this league. ”
In 11 seasons in the NHL, on five teams, he was 222-128-36 with a 2.32 goals-against average and .921 save percentage in 413 games. He has been nominated three times among the finalists for the Vézina Trophy awarded to the best goaltender in the NHL.