One of the NHL’s unlikeliest successful players will retire at the end of the 2024-25 season.
Chicago Blackhawks left winger Pat Maroon announced Saturday he will be retiring after a 14-year career.
He broke the news while speaking to Chicago Sports Network’s Darren Pang ahead of the Blackhawks tilt with the St. Louis Blues.
“Sometimes you’ve got to give up everything you know and everything you dreamed of your whole life,” an emotional Maroon said. “I just know it’s time for me, time for my family to start a new chapter in our lives.”
Saturday’s contest in St. Louis was a special homecoming for Maroon, especially after his decision was revealed. In 2019, he won his and the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.
“I’m just going to finish this year like every game is my last game, you know, I’m going to play as hard as I can,” he continued.
Maroon, 36, was drafted 161st overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2007 but wasn’t promoted from the minor leagues until 2011-12 as a member of the Anaheim Ducks.
He played for the Ducks for part of five seasons before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers in 2016. He spent nearly three seasons with the Oilers until being dealt to the New Jersey Devils in 2018. That offseason, he signed with St. Louis.
That’s when Maroon’s career took off. After that magical 2019 championship, he lifted the Stanley Cup twice with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021.
He was the first player in league history to win three consecutive Stanley Cups since several New York Islanders teammates did so from 1980-83. Maroon is also among just 12 players to win back-to-back Stanley Cups with two teams.
Maroon has recorded 125 goals, 195 assists and 320 total points with eight teams in his career. He split the 2023-24 season with the Minnesota Wild and Boston Bruins before landing in Chicago this year.
He told Pang that despite being excited about his family’s future, it would be difficult for him to walk away from the sport that has been his entire life.
“This is all I know… it’s tough. It’s hard to go through these things, you can’t really process it,” Maroon said.
