OHL graduate Dan Girardi announces retirement

A former Memorial Cup champion and four-year OHL blueliner announced his retirement after 13 NHL seasons this past week.

Dan Girardi, who hoisted the Robertson Cup in back-to-back seasons as well as the Memorial Cup as a member of the 2005 London Knights, has called it a career after 927 career regular season NHL contests.

The 35-year-old Welland, Ont. native spent last season with the Tampa Bay Lightning, recording 16 points (4-12–16) over 62 contests. Girardi was best known for things that don’t always appear on the stat line though, forming a reputation as one of the NHL’s best shot blockers. He retired as the NHL’s all-time leader with 1,954, the most since the stat began being tracked in 2005.

Girardi spent 11 of his 13 NHL seasons with the New York Rangers who signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He appeared in the NHL Playoffs 12 times over his 13 seasons, reaching the Eastern Conference Final four times and the Stanley Cup Final once.

Girardi spent parts of five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-05, skating with the Barrie Colts, Guelph Storm and London Knights as he recorded 117 points (21-96–117) over 231 career regular season games. He won OHL championships in back-to-back years, doing so with Guelph in 2004 and London in 2005.

For more on Girardi’s career, visit sportsnet.ca.