14-year NHL veteran announces retirement at the age of 37

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Cooper Godin
July 12, 2023 (2:24 PM)

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After parts of 14 seasons in the National Hockey League, German goaltender Thomas Greiss has decided to call it career.

"There have been some considerations (about playing), but the bottom line is, I looked at a few offers that didn't really appeal to me," Greiss said. "As a result, I was ready to make the move and am looking forward to doing some new things in my life. Our job comes with a lot of freedom, but now I can tackle some new challenges."

He went on to add "Athletically, it worked out best for me with the Islanders. "But every place I've been has had great things for me. Phoenix was nice to live in or my first NHL game with the San Jose Sharks was special. California is a nice place to stay and there's a lot to do. I took some nice trips there, for example I went up to Lake Tahoe quite often. In Detroit I met up again with some guys I had played with before in San Jose. Every stop had something good."

Greiss, a native of Fuessen, played in 368 games in the NHL with San Jose Sharks, Phoenix (now Arizona) Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders, Detroit Red Wings and most recently, the St. Louis Blues. In those 368 games, he sported a record of 162-130-37 with a 2.77 goals against average, a .911 save percentage and 16 shutouts.

The 37-year-old's 162 career wins are the most all-time for a German goaltender in the NHL. He represented Germany on the international stage on several occasions, including the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics and 2016 IIHF World Championship, which was his final tournament for his nation. He also played for Team Europe at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, where they finshed second, losing to Canada in the best-of-three final series.

Best of luck to Thomas Greiss on his new chapter and congratulations on a great career in the National Hockey League!

Thomas Greiss retired from the NHL on Wednesday after 14 seasons.https://t.co/C11HExqSBK� NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) July 12, 2023

Greiss has been at the center of controversy during his career. The German Hockey Federation made it clear that Greiss was no longer welcome with their teams after multiple social media and political posts surfaced over the last 6 or 7 years.

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