Goaltender Michael Leighton announces his retirement.

Leighton hangs up his skates.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Goaltender Michael Leighton announces his retirement.
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Although he was never considered one of the best goalies in the world, and in fact was never really a number one goaltender at the National Hockey League level, 38 year old Michael Leighton has put together quite the career for himself. Drafted all the way back at the 1999 NHL Entry Draft where he was selected in the 6th round (165th overall) by the Chicago Blackhawks, Leighton would go on to play a whopping 17 professional seasons with a staggering number of teams.

Unfortunately on Monday Leighton announced that his journey in professional hockey was coming to an end after back to back seasons where he played exclusively in the American Hockey League and he made the announcement in an exclusive interview with The Athletic's Scott Powers

“This is a really hard thing for me to say, I’m done playing, because I’ve done this my whole life,” Leighton said as per The Athletic. “Since I was four or five years old, I’ve played hockey. It’s been my life. For me to just say I’m done playing is a tough decision. It’s just one that has to be made at this time.

“Since I was young, into high school, into pro hockey, marriage, kids, it’s not only been my life, but my family’s life, too. I have to say I’m very fortunate to play hockey for a living. It was always my dream. Obviously pretty proud and happy that I got to do that for a living. That’s what everyone wants — to do something they love for the rest of their life, to make a career out of it. I was able to do that, so I feel very fortunate.”

In spite of the fact that he was never a big name in the traditional sense, Leighton is a pretty recognizable figure in the world of pro hockey given both his longevity and the fact that he played for 21 different professional teams throughout his career. At the NHL level he played for the the Chicago Blackhawks, the Nashville Predators, Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers, with multiple stints with both the Hurricanes and Blackhawks. He played for a large number of teams in the American Hockey League as well and even spent one year with Donbass HC of the Kontinental Hockey League.

Leighton's NHL career comes to an end with 111 games played, a stretch of play over which he recorded a 2.98 goals against average and a .900 save percentage. We wish Michael and the Leighton family all the best on their future endeavors. 

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