Veteran NHL forward retires at 38 years old

This just in, longtime NHL forward Nate Thompson has announced his retirement from professional hockey at 38 years old. He made the official announcement on The Empty Netters Podcast.

Check it out:

And if you're sitting there wondering... 'So what? Big deal, the guy was a career 4th liner.' Well, you'd be right but Thompson was a Hell of a lot more than just another 4th line. He was a fierce competitor on the ice who was unafraid to do whatever it took to win. More than that though he fought hard to lift up the hockey community in his native Alaska and did even more for the addiction recovery community. Thompson is a recovering addict and alcoholic who spent incalculable hours helping and supporting others around him.

If you don't think he's worth a mention, just check out some of these replies to his retirement announcement:

In total Thompson ends his career with 65 goals, 164 points and 401 penalty minutes in 844 career regular season games split between the Boston Bruins, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning, Anaheim Ducks, Ottawa Senators, Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers and Winnipeg Jets. Not bad for an Alaskan boy picked 183rd overall in the 6th round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

With Thompson's retirement there are now only 11 active players from that historic 2003 draft left in the NHL, albeit some without contracts for the upcoming season. Marc Andre Fleury, Ryan Suter, Jeff Carter, Brent Burns, Corey Perry, Joe Pavelski are all under contract while Eric Staal, Zach Parise, Patrice Bergeron, Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott are all still out there as free agents, but not officially retired yet.

As for Thompson, he hasn't announced his plans in retirement yet, but you can rest assured that he'll continue to work to support the communities that have helped build him up over his life. Take at least a bit off time to yourself though, Nate Dawg... you've earned it.