Former Oilers captain takes on new role on Thursday.

This summer when former Edmonton Oilers captain Andrew Ferrence announced that injury would be forcing him to retire from the National Hockey League, the news was met with a great deal of disappointment. Now however Ference is beginning the next chapter of his professional life.

According to a report from the Edmonton Journal, Ference begin a new TV gig with Sportsnet on Thursday, one that will see him analyzing and covering stories for Sportsnet's hockey packages.

While most expect that Ference will be a big success at Sportsnet, Ference himself appeared to be somewhat lacking in confidence when it comes to his new gig, or perhaps he was merely being humble.

“I pitched about 20 story ideas to them (Sportsnet) and one of them was the kids at a prospects camp,” said Ference as per Oilers insider Jim Matheson.

“Who knows, maybe this will be my only story.”

It was sad to see a guy who played in nearly 1000 NHL games have his career sidelined by injury, but we'll be rooting for him in his new role and we wish him nothing but the best in all his future endeavors.