TORONTO — Michael Peca is retiring after 13 seasons as one of the top two-way forwards in the NHL.
The 35-year-old center called it quits Tuesday after going unsigned this offseason.
"I'm not sad by any means," Peca
said. "Several months ago, I came to the decision I wasn't going to
play anymore. Today's really just a day that I made a public statement.
For me, it was so every time I run into old friends, they quit asking
me if I'm done or not.
"Now they've got the answer," he said. "It's kind of like a mass e-mail."
Peca spent last season with the
Columbus Blue Jackets. He received some interest from Western
Conference teams, but was reluctant to move far from his family's home
near Buffalo.
An opportunity in the East fell through just before the start of training camp.
"I wasn't going to uproot my family
again," Peca said. "I was very selective, maybe so selective to the
point that realistically I knew that there probably wouldn't be an
opportunity."
Peca was part of two Stanley Cup
finalists — the 1999 Buffalo Sabres and 2006 Edmonton Oilers. He won
gold with Team Canada at the 2002 Olympics.
A two-time winner of the Selke trophy
as the NHL's top defensive forward, Peca was honored to call himself an
Olympic champion but drew his greatest satisfaction from the two Cup
runs.
"Even though the Olympic gold medal
was the one where I was fortunate enough to be successful, the Stanley
Cup runs were actually more fruitful for me from the emotional
standpoint," Peca said. "This is guys that have slugged it out for
five, six months and now we've got to go another two months together to
try and accomplish the greatest prize."
Peca's teams fell just short both
times. The Sabres lost Game 6 in triple overtime to Dallas on a
controversial goal by Brett Hull, while the Oilers dropped Game 7 in
Carolina.
"I don't for one second look back
and regret anything that happened," Peca said. "There's no doubt that I
go can go through different situations in my career that I wish turned
out differently, but they all happened for their own certain purpose.
And I don't regret anything for one second."
In 864 games with Buffalo, Edmonton, Columbus, Vancouver, Toronto and the New York Islanders, he had 176 goals and 465 points.