NHL iron man Keith Yandle retires after 16 seasons
Anthony Scultore
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Defenseman Keith Yandle announced his retirement after 16 NHL seasons on the Spittin Chiclets podcast.
“I’m coming on to let you guys know… I wanted to tell you that I am shutting it down from the game of hockey,” Yandle said. “Basically taking my talents to South Beach and doing nothing.”
His announcement was already known to the show hosts, but all jokes aside Yandle is calling it on a brilliant career.
“I’m really at ease with it and looking forward to the next chapter,” he said. “Once your body tells you to shut it down, and this summer I had no interest in working out, I was at the point where this is it. I took the pressure away from my family and now I can be around.”
Keith Yandle retires
Yandle, 36, set the iron man record when he played in his 965th straight game on January 25, 2022 against the New York Islanders in Elmont, N.Y. Doug Jarvis previously held the mark of 964, set from 1975-87 with three different teams.
His NHL-record streak came to an end on April 2, 2022 at 989 consecutive games played. The decision was made by the Philadelphia Flyers as an organization, but left many shocked including Yandle.
“I don’t really know if it’s hit me completely,” Yandle said via NHL.com. “I don’t know yet, I don’t know when it will. It’s kind of one of those things during it, I didn’t really try to think about it too much just to kind of go out and play. Maybe now the next day or two it might hit me.”
For Yandle’s great career, he competed in 1,109 regular season games after being drafted by the Arizona Coyotes in the fourth round of the 2005 Draft.
Last season, he registered 19 points in 77 games for the Philadelphia Flyers. He ends his NHL run after 16 seasons with additional stops on the New York Rangers and Florida Panthers. The former all-star defenseman amassed 619 points during that span.
