Retirement Week (NHL)
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Retirement Week was the week-long period from September 7, 2005 to September 14, 2005, in which seven veteran professional ice hockey players officially announced their retirement from the National Hockey League, seemingly one after the other. The trend began when Scott Stevens, longtime captain of the New Jersey Devils, announced his retirement; Vincent Damphousse, James Patrick, Al MacInnis, Trent Klatt, Mark Messier and Ron Francis followed suit soon thereafter (in that order).
Age was the biggest reason why these players decided to call it quits, but it was not the only reason. Health was a major factor in the case of Al MacInnis, for example, who suffered a major eye injury when he last played. Another factor was the 2004-05 NHL lockout, during which time these players were estranged from competitive hockey. As for Messier and Francis (who are among the NHL's all-time leaders in both games played and points), they felt as if they had nothing else to accomplish professionally.
Retirement Week came just weeks before the start of the 2005-06 NHL season. While fans and the media had been focusing heavily on the dawn of a new era in the NHL, this week served as an emotional reminder that hockey was facing the end of an era as well.
