Montreal Canadiens defenceman Chris Wideman will soon announce his retirement from the NHL.
In a newly released interview with La Presse’s Simon-Olivier Lorange, the 34-year-old Canadiens blueliner admitted to already playing in his last NHL game.
«Toutes les difficultés, la douleur, les nuits sans sommeil, les doutes, les démons… Ç’a été tout un combat. Mais ç’a valu la peine.»
Dans une longue entrevue, le défenseur Chris Wideman confirme que son «voyage mouvementé» dans la LNH est terminé. https://t.co/B3wcoX5zh4
— Simon-Olivier Lorange (@SO_Lorange) April 16, 2024
“I reached a point where I couldn’t continue,” said Wideman, who missed the entirety of the 2023-24 season due to a back injury, in the French article.
The St. Louis native said his decision is partly based on doctors telling him about the long-term risks that come with playing through the kind of injury he’s suffered.
“I talked with the medical staff about what my life after hockey could look like if I didn’t stop. There were a lot of doubts about how it would affect me in the long run,” he added. “When we started talking about it, it became real. Life is long after a career ends.”
Bouncing around different teams and leagues over the past decade, the American blueliner was selected by the Ottawa Senators in the fourth round (100th overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft.
He made his NHL debut in the 2015-16 season, later seeing brief stints with the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers before playing a season in the KHL.
As a free agent, he signed with the Habs ahead of the 2021-22 campaign. Over 291 NHL games, the 5-foot-10 blueliner logged a total of 20 goals and 78 points.
While no official announcement has been made, Wideman is expected to hang up the skates for good when his contract expires in the offseason.
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