NHL Lockout: End Of Some Great Careers?

The lockout is still dragging on and fans are growing old with all this CBA talk over money, but they aren't the only ones growing old. Some NHL players are aging on the sidelines wondering if they will ever play in the NHL again as their careers were winding down before the Lockout even started. There is still time to get a half-ass season in and we hope that we do see some NHL hockey soon, but if this lockout goes the full season there are some NHL veterans who might retire and we may never get to give them a proper goodbye.

Let's take a look at some of the notable greybeards who might not get to see NHL action again:

Teemu Selanne

Age 42
The Finnish Flash has been on the fence the last few years about retiring and this lockout could be the final blow to his great career. I can still remember his 92-93 rookie season when he scored 76 goals and put up 132 points. I was just a kid playing ball hockey in my parents backyard and whenever I would score a game winning goal I would toss my glove up in the air and shoot it down with my stick like Teemu did for rookie goal scoring record. Come to think of it, what kid playing hockey hasn't tossed their glove in the air and shot it with their stick?

Daniel Alfredsson

Age 40
Alfredsson just turned 40 a few days ago and I am sure he would love a late birthday gift from the NHL to end this lockout. In 1131 games Alfredsson has put up 1082 pts and his best season was the year after the last lockout back in 2004-05 when he scored 43 goals and put up 103 pts. The Senators Capitan retiring would be a huge lose to their team and doesn't leave them with much depth on their RW. Possibly the worst thing about Alfie retiring during the Lockout would be that Maple Leafs fans wouldn't get to give him a proper send off.

Jaromir Jagr

Age 40
Jagr will turn 41 in February and if this NHL season doesn' happen then there is a good chance Jagr will retire. Jagr is a first ballot Hall of Famer sitting 8th overall in all-time points with 1653 points in 1346 games. There is a good chance Jagr would be top five in career scoring if he didn’t jet to the KHL for 3 seasons as he returned last year and still put up a very respectable 54 points in 73 games. He still moves like Jagr, but at 41 he might be thinking about hanging up the skates.

There are other greybeards out there, but you get the idea they aren't just ready to retire yet. Chris Pronger at the age of 38 is still suffering from post-concussion symptoms and many believe he won't play again. But I don't see him retiring just yet when he is getting paid very well from the Flyers and is due to make $7M next year. Ray Whitney at the age of 40 signed a two-year contract that pays out $4.5M a season so there is a pretty good chance he will be back to cash in and probably put up another 70 points. And don't we all expect Tim Thomas to come back at some point and flop around to win another Vezina Trophy?