We’ll file this under “Tangentially Red Wings-related,” as BP Sports Niagara’s Bill Potrecz reports that former Red Wing Riley Sheahan has retired:
Riley Sheahan is having fun at the rink again. The 32-year-old St. Catharines native achieved his dream and played more than 600 games in the National Hockey League, but it wasn’t all fun and games.
Sheahan was a first-round draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2010 and seemed to be a perfect fit for the Wings as a strong, two-way centre. But Sheahan bounced around, also playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Florida Panthers, Edmonton Oilers, Buffalo Sabres and Seattle Kraken, as well as a stint in Switzerland before finally calling it a career.
“It was tough,” Sheahan said when asked about the decision to retire. “You definitely associate yourself with a sport and your ego — you definitely get voices in your head saying, ‘I wish I could still be doing this.’ I feel debatably like I do have some juice left, but you kind of have to make the agreement what’s best for you and my family. Sometimes it’s hard. As a high-end athlete, I think we’re all wired kind of the same way to keep pushing for the next thing and to keep pushing, never be satisfied, that whole thing. I think that’ll be a good challenge for me as my career ends, to really think about it, reflect on the good moments.”
Sheahan said moving from city to city, not knowing from one season to the next where he was going to be playing, took its toll.
“Year after year and being part of a new group of people and trying to break the ice and all the relationships and then all of a sudden, they’re gone. That stuff is really hard on me and it takes you away from the game too. I’ve played the game to really enjoy it, to make plays and to feel excited out there and now that was starting to go away. Some days it’s hard but I also have a lot of other things in my life to be grateful for and to drive me now.”
Continued; I’m feeling old. Sheahan was an 18-year-old kid an eye-blink ago.
