By Andrew Allsman| Posted: June 6, 2013| Contact |
It’s the second time in as many days that the Blues have had
a veteran player hang up his skates. On Wednesday, it was Scott Nichol at age
38, today, it was Andy McDonald who was calling it quits at age 37.
All in all, the Blues actually have lost three forwards in two days. Apart from the Nichol news on Wednesday, the team found out that prospect Jori Lehtera would be remaining in the Kontinental Hockey League. The Blues could potentially have to make a move to help make up for the losses.
McDonald and Nichol's reasons for retiring were completely different. Nichol
felt if he wanted to stay around the game, he needed to take a front office
job, and he did so with the Nashville Predators. For McDonald, it was a health
concern.
McDonald has battled multiple concussions throughout his
12-year National Hockey League career, and he has been feeling their long-last effects. This past season was the first time in a
while that McDonald had been able to remain concussion-free for an entire
season. The risk became too much for McDonald to take, so he made the decision
he thought best for he and his family.
McDonald has spent the last six seasons with the Blues after
being acquired in 2007 in a blockbuster trade that brought McDonald to St.
Louis and sent Doug Weight to Anaheim. The move paid off for the Blues.
McDonald had 90 goals and 230 points in 294 games as a Blue.
His best season wearing the Note was in 2009-10 where McDonald had 57 points
(24 goals, 33 assists). But because of health issues over the years, McDonald
played fewer than 60 games in five of his six seasons with the Blues. This past
season, McDonald had seven goals, 21 points in 37 games. McDonald won the
Stanley Cup with Anaheim in 2007, one of his many accomplishments in his
career.
While part of the reason McDonald retired was his health, he
also had serious doubts about whether he would return to the Blues. All signs
pointed to the Blues moving on without McDonald. It was rumored that McDonald
may have interest in returning to Anaheim, but McDonald’s first choice would
have been St. Louis. McDonald’s four-year, $18.8 million contract expired after
this season. The Blues likely weren’t going to resign the veteran and he would
have become an unrestricted free agent later this month.
Surprisingly, McDonald was never drafted, and broke into the
league as a free agent in the 2000-01 season with Anaheim. McDonald spent four seasons playing at Colgate University and being overlooked in the NHL draft before being signed by the Ducks. The Ducks and the
Blues were the only NHL teams McDonald played for during his 12-year NHL
career.