15 year NHL veteran hangs up the skates

Getting to the National Hockey League is every young player's dream; once you get there, it's even harder to stay at the highest level for a long period of time. If you're lucky, you get to decide when it's time to hang up the skates, that is, if injuries, lack of foot soles or lack of skill doesn't do it for you. For this player, in his late 30's, it was time

Veteran forward Nate Thompson announced on the Empty Netters Podcast that after a 15-year National Hockey League career, he was retiring from professional hockey; take a look.





Thompson, 38, was the guy you loved to have on your team; he played 844 career NHL games across 15 years, splitting time between 9 different teams, scoring 65 goals and adding 99 assists for a total of 164 points.

Say what you will about Thompson, he wasn't flashy, he didn't put up a lot of points, but he was able to endear himself to his teammates and make a long career simply playing his role on any team he went to.