Two-time Stanley Cup champion forced to retire after brain injury

The National Hockey League career for two-time Stanley Cup winning forward Patric Hornqvist has officially come to a close. 

Patric Hörnqvist, who scored the Cup-winning goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017, has decided to hang up the skates  at the age of 36. 

“I feel good now and hopefully have many good years ahead of me, and with my injury history, I don’t want to risk future ones,” Hornqvist said to Aftonbladet via translation. “It will be a big adjustment, but it feels good now. I’m looking forward to the rest of my life.”

"When I look back, it's fantastic to think that I have, for example, two Stanley Cup rings on my account, and a World Cup gold medal, and that I was actually involved and contributed to those victories," he continued. "I could never have dreamed of that. But what I am above all grateful and happy about are all the incredible people I got to know. Players, coaches, material managers….you name it. The hockey world is truly full of outstanding people, so if there's one thing I'll really miss, it's the camaraderie in the locker room." 

Hörnqvist got his start in the NHL after being taken by the Nashville Predators in the 2005 Draft with the 230th overall pick. He would later be traded to the Penguins in the trade that brought James Neal to Nashville; Hörnqvist would ironically score the Cup-winning goal against Neal and the Predators a few short years later. 

He would later go on to play for the Florida Panthers, but was limited to only 22 games this past season after suffering a concussion.

His career in the NHL wraps up after having scored 264 goals and 279 assists in 901 games with the Predators, Penguins and Panthers. 

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