Tomas Plekanec hangs up his turtleneck. The 40-year-old Czech made the announcement on Saturday morning on his Instagram account.
“I thought that in a few weeks I would feel better and that I would be able to help my team on the ice, but no,” wrote Plekanec, unable to recover from an injury that he has been carrying around for several weeks.
The captain of the Kladno team in the Czech Extraliga prefers to retire and devote time to his family, rather than risk worsening his condition.
” I’m so sorry. I had imagined this season differently. I wanted to fight for a place in the playoffs once again,” he continued under a row of photos of him in the different uniforms he will have worn.
The center player left the NHL to return home in 2019. He played 1,001 games in the Bettman circuit, including 984 with the Montreal Canadiens and 17 with the Toronto Maple Leafs, during the 2017-2018 season.
In 15 seasons in the NHL, Plekanec scored 233 goals and recorded 608 points.