This is the end of an era. Jason Spezza announced earlier today that he is retiring from the NHL. The 38-year-old centre has spent the past 19 years being a reveired leader in the NHL. He played in 1,248 regular season games with 995 points to show – 363 goals and 632 assists. He played an additional 97 playoff games with 28 goals and 48 assists for 76 points. Spezza started his career in Ottawa, where he remained for the first 11 years of his career. There he built a prestigious name for himself with his relentless heart and soul. No matter what, Spezza was a player who never gave up and constantly pushed his team the furthest they could go.
He left Ottawa for the Dallas Stars in 2014 at the age of 31. Spezza was one of the eldest among that Dallas group and he automatically became team dad. He was phenomenal both on and off the ice. In the 5 years he spent in Dallas, Spezza played 379 games with 228 points – 81 goals and 147 assists. He shifted his focus to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the start of the 2019 season.
Once again, he returned to that dad role and was a big part of the Maple Leafs with their younger crew. They embraced him, and he ended up putting up 80 points – 31 goals and 49 assists – in his 183 games as a Leaf. He was overall a great person to have in the room for such a young team.
Spezza is a future Hall of Famer and an absolute legend to the game of hockey. He was one of my favorite players and I am sad to see him go. He always was a special person and player. I will be missing him so much but he will be a big part of the Leafs’ organization moving forward. He’s a great person to have in their front office. Now, here’s some grade A Spezza content:
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