FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Kyle Okposo is going out as a Stanley Cup champion.
Okposo, who played 17 seasons in the NHL and finished that run as part of the Florida team that won a title last season, announced his retirement on Thursday.
The former Buffalo Sabres captain made the announcement on social media, bringing an end to an NHL career that started when the New York Islanders drafted him with the No. 7 overall pick in 2006.
In a letter distributed by CAA, which represents Okposo, he called his 30 years playing hockey “incredible.”
“It brought me to some amazing places and provided such unique experiences,” Okposo wrote. “I believe the game is in a great place right now, but the possibilities are vast. I’m looking forward to continuing to contribute to the game as it reaches new heights.”
Okposo had 242 goals and 372 assists in 1,051 NHL regular-season games, all but six of those contests coming when he played for the Islanders or the Sabres. He went to the playoffs four times — 2013, 2015 and 2016 with the Islanders, then finished last season with the Panthers after joining them for the stretch run — and won the Cup for the first time.
“You could see the enthusiasm grow day-by-day here and he got real comfortable … and of course with the way it ended, what a wonderful memory,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Thursday.
It wasn’t lost on the Panthers that Okposo had waited a long time for that title, so they didn’t make him wait much longer to get his hands on the trophy in the on-ice celebration following the Game 7 win over Edmonton. After captain Aleksander Barkov accepted the Cup from Commissioner Gary Bettman, he handed it to goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and Bobrovsky then handed it to Okposo for his celebratory lap around the ice.
“What an experience, what a moment with these guys,” Okposo said that night. “I took a leap of faith 3 1/2 months ago and this is what it was for. I wanted a chance to win and these guys, they’re just an incredible bunch. We did everything to win. We did it the hard way.”
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