Avalanche’s Matt Calvert announces retirement

After 11 seasons in the National Hockey League, Matt Calvert has announced his retirement citing a career-ending injury that limited him to just 18 games with the Colorado Avalanche in 2020.

Wishing Matt Calvert all the best in retirement!

Thanks for everything you’ve done for this organization ❤️💙#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/jDos4GlkyL

— z – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) July 22, 2021

“I’ve been lucky enough to play the game I love since I was five years old,” Calvert said in a statement. “I never played to make it to the NHL. I played to compete. I played for my teammates. I played for the fans. I played for my family. I played because I loved to battle, and I played to win. I dreamt of becoming an accountant when I was 18 years old and three years later, I was playing in the NHL.

“It was an absolute honour to wear the Columbus Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche jerseys throughout my career. I would bleed for those organizations any day. Thank you to the best parents in the world. You sacrificed everything to give me the opportunity to play in the National Hockey League. You mean the world to me and I wouldn’t have played a game without you. Thank you to my brothers for pushing me to be the best I could be. Thank you to my beautiful wife Courtney, and my boys Kasey and Beau for being my biggest fans. Thank you to my extended family for all the support. Thank you to every coach and GM that pushed me to be my best. Thank you to the Wagons. Thank you to all the special people I met along the way. What an amazing journey. I feel like the luckiest person in the world to have had this opportunity. I look forward to skating on the outdoor rinks with my boys in retirement. I love you all!”

Calvert was a fifth-round pick by the Blue Jackets in 2008 and spent eight seasons with Columbus before playing with the Colorado Avalanche.

He amassed 203 points over 566 regular-season games, and 17 points in 32 playoff contests. He scored 95 goals and added 108 assists.