Peter Forsberg Retiring

It is finally official…well at least it will be in a few hours. Peter Forsberg is going to announce his retirement from the National Hockey League today. Forsberg signed a contract last week and played 2 games for the Avalanche on the road before deciding that he couldn't keep up with the current NHL level of play. In his 2 games, Forsberg had no points, was a -4 and had 4 penalty minutes.

Personally, I didn't get to see either game because I was working, so I can't really comment on Forsberg's play. When he first announced that he was coming to practice with the Avs, I thought he might just play one game and then retire as an Av. Little did I know, that was pretty accurate. I think right now a lot of people are really disappointed and even irritated that Forsberg couldn't play just one more tonight in front of Avalanche fans at Pepsi Center.

For years Forsberg has been plagued by an issue with his foot. He has had multiple surgeries in an attempt to fix the injury and return to the NHL. His last attempt at a return was at the end of the 2007-08 season and Forsberg played in 9 games where he had 1 goal and 13 assists. At that time, Forsberg was bothered by a groin injury due to his foot not sitting right in his skates. After that Forsberg played some overseas in Sweden, but the two games he played for the Avs this year have been the only NHL time he has seen.

In 708 career regular season games Forsberg had a total of 249 goals and 636 assists. In 151 playoff games Forsberg had 64 goals and 107 assists. He played most of his career for the Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques franchise. After the NHL lockout season, Forsberg played most of 2 season for the Philadelphia Flyers and then played 17 games for the Nashville Predators at the end of the 2006-07 season.

While the end of Forsberg's NHL career has been filled with frustration and disappointment for both himself and the fans, there will always be all the spectacular years that Forsberg for the Avalanche. He was here during the glory days with Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy, winning both Stanley Cups with the team. When he was healthy and even when he wasn't 100%, Forsberg could skate circles around other players and dazzle everyone with his moves.

Peter Forsberg will retire from the NHL today after playing in just over 700 games in the regular season and 151 in the playoffs. He put up great numbers throughout his career and was always a fun player to watch (although probably not much fun for opponents to play against). His passion for the game of hockey drove him to try one last return to the NHL, but he decided it wasn't going to work out as the pace of today's game is not the same as when he last played a full season. It's disappointing that Forsberg didn't hang on for one more game and play in front of the home crowd one last time, but he made the decision not to play when he felt he wasn't at the right level. Thanks for everything Peter!

All the Latest

Last night's shutout loss to the Anaheim Ducks marked a special point in the career of Avs defenseman John-Michael Liles. It was NHL game number 500 in the American-born defenseman's career. During those 500 games, Liles has amassed 68 goals and 196 assists for a total of 264 career points. In 53 games this season, Liles has 6 goals and 29 assists for 35 points, on pace for a career best season. His previous best points total was 44 points during his sophomore season. Liles is also one of two players who has remained healthy and not missed a single game this season (the other player is Matt Duchene). So congratulations to Liles on his 500th NHL game.

In other news, Peter Forsberg is officially set to return to the Avalanche, although his exact debut remains in question. Forsberg had to travel to Canada today in order to re-enter the country with a work visa so he can begin playing for the Avalanche. Forsberg also said he wouldn't mind taking a few more practices with the team before joining real game action. Forsberg's return will come at a time when the Avalanche are in need of some kind of spark. They have lost 4 games in a row and have been shut out the last two games. Whether Forsberg's joining the team will provide the needed spark remains to be seen, but it certainly can't hurt anything.

The NHL trading deadline is coming up on February 28th and with the Avs recent struggles, it wouldn't be surprising to see them make another move. Lately, Sacco has seemed to show little confidence in either of his goaltenders (both of whom have been allowing at least 3 goals in their last several starts). Both Budaj and Anderson have been starting lately. The defense has not been solid in front of either goalie and obviously with the shutouts, the offense has died off as well. So it wouldn't be surprising to see the Avs pursuing players at any position at this point.