Derian Hatcher retires

Former Stars captain Derian Hatcher has officially retired. He had knee replacement surgery earlier this month. Mike Heika mentioned this the other day and I agree: Hatcher is one of the all-time Stars greats. He was a very important part of those great teams in the late 1990’s.

Here is part of the release on Hatcher’s retirement from the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Philadelphia Flyers announced that Derian Hatcher has been named as the new player development coach, according to Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren. The former Flyers defenseman and captain also announced that he is retiring from the National Hockey League after 17 seasons.

“We are pleased to add Derian to our coaching staff in this very important capacity,” said Holmgren in making the announcement. “Derian will spend valuable time with the young players throughout our organization, working on their on-ice game as well as helping these young players deal with the issues playing and/or preparing to play professional hockey.”

“I am very excited. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when Paul offered me this position. It sounded like the perfect way to stay in the game and see if I like it,” said Hatcher. “I will be watching the younger players and making sure everything runs smoothly for them. I will be involved with running the rookie camp this summer, where I will get to work closely with some of our younger players.”

The full release is here. 

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