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Hejduk Talks Retirement

August 4th, 2008 by Jason Chen

Jes Golbez reports that Avalanche forward Milan Hejduk has made it known in his native Czech Republic that he plans to retire after his current contract expires. The forward, a long-time linemate of Joe Sakic’s, will be only 34 when his contract ends, still a very reasonable age to continue playing, but Hejduk cites his injuries as the biggest stumbling block. The forward has apparently not been skating at all over the summer, because due to a bum knee he can’t run or jump. Hejduk has opted not to undergo major knee surgery, because it would mean he would have to miss an entire season for rehab. Hejduk was drafted by the Nordiques in 1994 and has spent his entire career in the Quebec/Colorado organization. He is 5 goals shy of 300 and 2 points shy of 600 in his career. He has never failed to score at least 20 goals a season since his rookie year, including a career high 50 in 2003. It is very likely that Sakic and Hejduk’s retirement will coincide within a span of 2 years, meaning that the Avs will have big holes to fill on the top line should Paul Stastny and either Wojtek Wolski or Marek Svatos fail to fill the void.

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  1. 2 Responses to “Hejduk Talks Retirement”

  2. By Steve on Aug 4, 2008

    The only thing limiting Stastny’s ability to fill the void on the top line would be injuries. He is better than a point per game player when healthy.

  3. By Jason C on Aug 4, 2008

    I haven’t gotten to see Stastny play much, but he does put up very good stats. However, he does have some very, very big shoes to fill.

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