After suiting up in 1249 NHL games over his 17-year career, Scott Hartnell has decided to retire. He made the announcement on his Twitter account on Monday morning.
“Every young kid from a small town across Canada dreams of playing a game in the NHL,” Hartnell tweeted. “I was fortunate enough to play 1,249 of them.
“I was lucky to have so many great teammates along the way. I can’t tell you how many laughs and good times we had together. The absolute best!!”
Hartnell entered the league with the Nashville Predators after they made him the sixth overall pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. He ended up playing in the NHL as an 18-year-old. He ended up putting up some decent numbers with the Preds over the next six years.
He was traded to the Flyers in 2007 along with Kimmo Timonen. That’s when his career took off for the better. In Philadelphia, he scored at least 20 goals five times and he scored more than 30 twice (he scored a career-high 37 goals in 2011-12).
It was in Philadelphia that the “Hartnell Down” movement began. Fans started tracking the amount of times Hartnell would fall down during an NHL game, so he decided to embrace the idea. Every time he fell during a game, he would make a donation to charity.
The 36-year-old was eventually moved to the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he spent three years. He then finished his career back in Nashville last season.
Overall, he finished with 327 goals, 707 points and 1809 penalty minutes during his career. He added 19 goals and 47 points in 99 postseason contests.
MORE: Your 2018-19 NHL on NBC TV schedule
--
Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.