Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Henrik Lundqvist announces retirement from hockey

Henrik Lundqvist

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 01: Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers tends the net against the Montreal Canadiens at Madison Square Garden on March 1, 2019 in New York City. The Montreal Canadiens won 4-2. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHLI via Getty Images

Henrik Lundqvist has announced his retirement from hockey on Friday, ending a 15-year NHL career.

Lundqvist made the announcement at a press conference in Gothenburg, Sweden, and then posted his retirement announcement on social media.

He played all 15 of his seasons in the NHL with the New York Rangers. He was supposed to play a 16th season with the Washington Capitals in 2020-21, but had to sit out the season after undergoing surgery to correct a heart issue. He was able to return to the ice to workout, but never played again.

[Related: Every free agent signing by all 32 NHL teams]

Here is his announcement from his official Twitter page.

During his career Lundqvist was arguably the best goalie of his era and helped make the Rangers a consistent playoff team and contender.

He finishes his career with a 459-310-96 regular season record along with a .918 save percentage and 64 shutouts.

Even though his career never produced a Stanley Cup, he was also magnificent in the playoffs, posting a .922 save percentage (higher than his regular season save percentage) and 10 shutouts for the Rangers. He was also nearly unbeatable in Game 7s throughout his career. Between 2011 and 2015 Lundqvist backstopped the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Finals three times in four years, including the 2013-14 Stanley Cup Final where they lost to the Los Angeles Kings.

He was one of the primary reasons for their postseason success, posting a .930 save percentage during those four playoff runs.

Along with his NHL success, Lundqvist also won Olympic gold with Sweden during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, as well as the World Championships in 2017 in Cologne/Paris.