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It’s the end of an era for the Anaheim Ducks as Ryan Getzlaf is retiring at the end of the season after 17 years in Anaheim and a decade as their captain.
"I remember talking to my buddies when I first came in the league, and I thought that [retirement] was going to be at about 26," said Getzlaf during a Tuesday press conference. "Definitely over-lasted what I thought I would. The grind of the everyday, getting up, the preparation for each season, gets harder and harder as you get older.
"I've created an atmosphere around me of support, a loving family that I'd like to go home to. Kids that I'd like to grow up playing with, not watching play. That was a (reason) for me to step away from the game before those things happen."
It all started with being part of a loaded 2003 NHL Draft class that included Getzlaf, Marc-Andre Fleury, Nathan Horton, Patrice Bergeron, Eric Staal, Thomas Vanek, Dion Phaneuf, Ryan Suter, Jeff Carter, Dustin Brown, Brent Seabrook, Brent Burns, Zach Parise, Ryan Kesler and Corey Perry among others. Just check out this throwback picture complete with the frosted tips for Horton and Phaneuf.
The Ducks captain has been the face of the Anaheim franchise going back to the glory days of their Stanley Cup run when they were led by Chris Pronger, Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer and continuing on through the current days when the Ducks are turning over their entire organization.
Getzlaf, by the way, led that talent-laden Ducks team in postseason scoring with 17 points in 21 playoff games at the end of his second full NHL season.
The 6-foot-4, 220-pound center was a 21-year-old kid back then in the middle of a Kid Line with Corey Perry and Dustin Penner but developed into a big-bodied playmaker that’s played 17 seasons and 1,150 NHL games all for the Anaheim Ducks.
Speaking of Perry, it says a lot that a noted tough customer like him got pretty emotional talking about Getzlaf hanging them up at the end of the season.
At his height, Getzlaf was a player that finished second in the Hart Trophy voting in 2013-14 when he posted 31 goals and 87 points and even this season as a 36-year-old Getzlaf has posted 31 points in 49 games for a Ducks team in rebuild mode after dealing Rickard Rakell, Hampus Lindholm and Josh Manson at the NHL trade deadline.
Getzlaf will sit out the Ducks' last two games on the road this season so he can play his last NHL game at the home Honda Center in Anaheim against the St. Louis Blues on April 24, and there’s no doubt it will be a celebration of his standout career. He will wrap up as Anaheim's leader in games played (1,150), assists (731) and points (1,013) in the regular season, as well as games played (125), goals (37), assists (83) and points (120) in the playoffs.
“Being in one place for your whole career gives you the ability to create friendships and to be able to really walk around the rink and know people’s names,” said Getzlaf. “Team is everything for me and it’s what I’m going to miss the most. Showing up to the rink and going to battle with guys that are from everywhere.
“None of us grew up in the same place, but we came together for a game we love. I can’t tell you how much it’s meant to me to have the friendships and the teammates that I’ve had.”
That’s something to marvel at in a day and age when most pro athletes play for multiple teams while chasing money, Stanley Cups or opportunities in places other than the team that drafted and developed them in the first place. A lot of it has to do with Getzlaf’s character and his humble beginnings as a small-town Saskatchewan kid.
“The one thing that always amazed me is that you were able to keep to being that small town kid at heart,” said Getzlaf’s dad Steve during a pretty emotional retirement press conference where both his mom and dad spoke about his Saskatchewan hockey roots. “Don’t ever change.”
While Getzlaf never won a major NHL Award and was named All-League just once in his NHL career, the Hockey Hall of Fame will certainly be a consideration given his overall body of work. Consider this: There are only 11 other players in NHL history who have captained the same team for 10 years and scored 1,000 points for that team. Of those other 11 peers to Getzlaf, nine are retired and have been inducted into the Hall of Fame: Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux, Joe Sakic, Ray Bourque, Alex Delvecchio, Jean Beliveau, Jarome Iginla and Ron Francis. Two more of those 11 players are not yet eligible in current NHL stars Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin.
There’s an easy case to be made for Getzlaf and the Hockey Hall of Fame and he has the Stanley Cup title and playoff body of work as well, but that will be a two-sided argument for another day. This week it’s about recognizing a rare breed of NHL player that was able to represent the Anaheim Ducks, and nobody else, with class, dignity, toughness and excellence for almost two decades of hockey.
