Longtime NHL veteran forced into retirement after disastrous injury complications
Photo credit: NHL.COM
A 34-year old NHL veteran sadly will not see another game of his career following a statement by Doug Armstrong, the St. Louis Blues' general manager on Tuesday.
Torey Krug, a veteran of 778-NHL games has sadly been forced into retirement after devastating injury complications.
His general manager spoke on his behalf following their playoff exit, that Krug wasn't apart of due to his season-ending ankle surgery.
"I'm not expecting him to play again," Armstrong said Tuesday. "Now, he's hoping that I'm wrong, I'm hoping that I'm wrong and he's pushing, but the surgery that he had, it was very, very invasive."
The young defenseman was diagnosed with pre-arthritic changes in his ankle, and the medical staff did everything in their power to try and attempt the rehabbing process through non-surgical interventions.
Krug is still trying to go through an every day life, doing things as simple as walking has became a struggle, according to Armstrong.
"I don't really think there's much uncertainty with Torey," Armstrong said. "I talked to him. He was at the rink the other day. He's just getting almost normal, day-to-day living with his leg, his ankle."
Krug addressed the media about his surgery prior to training camp back in September, and was quite emotional about his career potentially being over.
"Thirty-three years old and when you miss a whole year of hockey, obviously those things cross your mind," he said at the time. "I don't want to look too far ahead, but those are things you definitely think about.
"I've always wanted to see my kids watch me play and see how hard I work. I don't think, regardless of what you're doing, they're going to see, even if it's away from the rink, how hard I work, being a parent, working on the house, doing stuff in the yard, they're going to see that. I just think it's in your DNA. It's tough, but the mental side of it's just going to be just as tough as the physical side."
"I've always wanted to see my kids watch me play and see how hard I work. I don't think, regardless of what you're doing, they're going to see, even if it's away from the rink, how hard I work, being a parent, working on the house, doing stuff in the yard, they're going to see that. I just think it's in your DNA. It's tough, but the mental side of it's just going to be just as tough as the physical side."
Krug's last game was a 5-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks, where he buried a goal and was a plus-2, skating 12:40.
"You want to win a Stanley Cup," Krug said. "I've had a chance to compete for ... I went to two Finals, and you make the playoffs so many times and you understand what comes with the job, all the injuries. There's other things that obviously come into play that I can make a living for a family and set up your kids. You don't want to trade that. A lot of great memories for sure."
A sad way to go out. Us at Hawksinsider wish you the speediest recovery, Torey.
Previously on HawksInsider
| POLL | ||
MAI 6 | 114 ANSWERS Longtime NHL veteran forced into retirement after disastrous injury complications Best wishes for a speedy recovery! | ||
| Best wishes, Torey Krug. | 114 | 100 % |
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