New York Rangers' Martin St. Louis retires from NHL

New York Rangers forward Martin St. Louis announced on Thursday that he’s retiring from the NHL after 16 seasons in the league.

The retirement comes as a surprise as St. Louis become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday. St. Louis, who turned 40 last month, didn’t know if he would return for another season at the end of last season. He had indicated that he wanted to continue playing, but decided to retire, according to ESPN.

"I have been blessed to play for 16 years in the NHL; it has been an amazing ride," St. Louis said in a statement. "I would like to thank the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers organizations and owners for providing me the opportunity to play the sport I love for so many years. I could have never played for so long or accomplished all that I have without the unwavering love and support from my wife, Heather, our three sons, Ryan, Lucas, and Mason, and my parents."

He went on to thank all of the fans for their support and he is looking forward to the next chapter in his life and spending time with his family.

St. Louis, a Quebec native, started his NHL career in 1998 as an undrafted free agent with the Calgary Flames. He played for the Tampa Bay Lightning for 13 seasons. The Rangers acquired him in a trade with the Lightning in March 2014. This past season he had 21 goals and 31 assist in the regular season and one goal and six assists in the playoffs as he helped the Rangers make it to the Eastern Conference finals. In his 16 year career he had 391 goals and 642 assists in 1,134 regular season games, according to the Associated Press. In 2004 he won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning.

St. Louis was a seven-time All-Star, and won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer twice(2003-04,2012-13), the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP in 2004, and the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and gentlemen play three times(2010,2011,2013). He also won the Lester B. Pearson award as the NHL players associations most outstanding player.

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