Rod Brind'Amour Retires After 21 Years

Rod Brind'Amour announced his retirement on Wednesday, ending a 21-year career that saw him score 452 goals as a member of the St. Louis Blues, Philadelphia Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes.

"I'm here here to say I will no longer be playing hockey for the Hurricanes or anyone else," said Brind'Amour at a press Wednesday afternoon. "I feel very, very, very fortunate to have played as long as I have."

Offensively, he was one of the most productive players to come out of the 1988 draft (a class that featured Jeremy Roenick, Teemu Selanne, Mark Recchi, Mike Modano, Tony Amonte, Trevor Linden, Alexander Mogilny and Rob Blake). And while the numbers (452 goals, 732 assists) were great, it was his defensive game and ability as a shutdown center that separated him as a player.

Brind'Amour ends his career as one of the finest defensive forwards to play in the NHL, winning back-to-back Selke Trophies (given to the league's best defensive forward) in 2005-06 and 2006-07, making him one of only seven players to win the award more than once. He was also one of the most dominant players in the league when it came to taking faceoffs, winning an incredible 59.2 percent of his draws between 1997 and 2010 (via Behind The Net), and finishing in the top-five in each of the past seven seasons.

And then there was also his role as a penalty killer. For his career, he tallied 24 shorthanded goals (28th on the all-time list). Perhaps one of his more impressive individual accomplishments (for a single game, anyway) came on April 26, 1997, during a playoff game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, when he scored two shorthanded goals on the same penalty kill, leading the Flyers to a series-clinching 6-3 win.

After spending parts of 12 years with St. Louis and Philadelphia, Carolina acquired him during the 1999-00 season in a deal that sent Keith Primeau to Philadelphia. During his press conference on Wednesday Brind'Amour talked about how he was snowed in shortly after arriving in Carolina for his first game -- with only one suit -- and couldn't wait for his deal to expire.

"The way it started, I thought no way am I staying here," said Brind'Amour. "The minute this deal is up, I'm out. Then all of a sudden I started to fall in love with it. The organization treated me great from day one. Even when things were not going well, I had support. The Fanbase started to learn the game, and now you look at it, it's a great place to go. It's just come full circle and I'm proud to have been part of that. To see where it started and where it is."

Fortunately for the Hurricanes, he didn't let the initial struggles turn him off from the area (or the team), as he helped lead the 'Canes to two Stanley Cup Finals appearances, and eventually winning the franchise's only Cup during the 2005-06 season.