When A Player Should Retire

Since Colombus Blue Jackets’ prospect Stefan Legein’s retirement was announced by his agent back at the end of last month, fans and critics from every corner of the hockey community have searched to find the reason "why".

19 year olds don’t just retire for no reason, do they?

This defies common sense, right?

Here are some of the reasons people have put forward:

--> Injury problems

--> Family issues

--> Substance abuse


My “speculation” is not nearly as controversial or complicated as any of these reasons.

It is quite simple.

--> Maybe Legein just doesn’t have the passion for playing any more.

After all, don’t people change their minds about what career they want to pursue all the time?

Is it really that surprising that a young hockey player isn't set in stone about his future at the age of 19?

Forget that he could have made millions of dollars in the next few years if he cracked Colombus’ line-up.

Maybe all of the time and energy wasn’t “worth” it to him anymore.

For him to walk away from a sport that has consumed so much of his time and energy for over ten years can’t be an easy thing to do.

I am sure he didn’t just wake up one morning and decide to hang ‘em up on a whim.

The rumor is that Legein will make an official statement on the first day of the Blue Jackets’ training camp, which is scheduled to start on September 20th.

If he does in fact officially announce his retirement on Saturday, it remains to be seen whether he will give the hockey world the satisfaction of the reason “why”.

But if he truly has lost his passion for the game...

Then maybe he really should retire.

Because if becoming a great player and having a great hockey career no longer makes him want to jump out of bed in the morning, then retiring is the right thing for him to do.



Just my two cents,

Kim