Longtime NHL coach officially announces his retirement.

Over 30 years in the league as a player and coach.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 7 years ago
Longtime NHL coach officially announces his retirement.

One longtime National Hockey League coach, and former player, has announced he is officially stepping out from behind the bench for good and will retire.

After nearly 500 games Craig Hartsburg is done with coaching, the announcement was made official today on the Blue Jackets website, Hartsburg was an assistant coach with Columbus this season.

Hartsburgh released the following statement:

“I’ve been very fortunate to spend the past 30-plus years in the game as a player or coach and have enjoyed every minute of it, but my priority now is to spend more time with my wife, children and grandchildren,” said Hartsburg. “I have really enjoyed my time in Columbus, working with both John Tortorella and Todd Richards, and appreciate the opportunity to continue to be part of the organization in a role that will also allow me to devote more time to my family.”

Hartsburgh started his NHL career back during the 1979-1980 season as a player for the Minnesota North Stars, and after his final season in 1989 began working as a coach, eventually earning himself head coaching jobs with Chicago, Anaheim and Ottawa, and was an assistant with the Flames, Flyers and North Stars as well as the aforementioned Blue Jackets.

Arguably Hartsburgh's greatest success as a coach came when he led Canada's Juniors to three consecutive gold medal victories, which he did twice as head coach in 2007 and 2008 after having been an assistant for the 2006 squad.

Hartsburgh will now continue on in another role with the Jackets, although what that role will be is unclear at this time.

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