Veteran NHL forward Kristian Huselius announced his retirement on Tuesday.
Huselius made the announcement via Swedish media outlet Aftonbladet, citing his inability to recover from a troublesome hip injury.
The 34-year-old signed with Swedish Elite League team AIK in December and played three games for the club before calling it quits.
"[My hip] has become worse and worse every game,” he said in a statement. “So I have taken the decision to stop with hockey altogether.”
Huselius last played in the NHL during the 2011-12 season, appearing in just two games for Columbus.
While he enjoyed some success with the Blue Jackets — he led the team in assists (40) in 2009-10 and finished third in points (63) — Huselius spent most of his final two seasons on IR, missing 123 games with various ailments.
Then came the bickering.
In August, Huselius accused Columbus of rushing him back from injury, which he said indirectly led to a groin tear that kept him out of the final 55 games of last year:
Here’s what the 33-year-old unrestricted free agent had to say (translated) to Aftonbladet:
“I had not a single practice with the team before coming back (from a torn pectoral). I had one game to get acclimated. Then I went into (the next) NHL game and played 21 minutes. I think they acted wrong against me. My groin broke in the second game. I had not built up muscle mass and was not fit or ready to play.
“Columbus was in a vulnerable position and was out of playoffs. Perhaps it was this situation that made that they wanted to bet everything on one card.”
Huselius actually played 19:27 in his first game back, on Dec. 2 in Edmonton. He only lasted 12:57 of his next outing, in Montreal, during which he suffered the groin injury.
He’s apparently refusing to return the Blue Jackets’ calls this summer, which leads one to believe he won’t be back in Columbus next season if he’s healthy enough to play.
Jackets GM Scott Howson denied the accusations, saying he was “confident Kristian received exceptional medical care” while in Columbus.