Much-maligned forward Raffi Torres has retired from the NHL, reports the Stouffville Sun Tribune’s Michael Hayakawa. The retirement went under the radar of more traditional hockey media, and with that a veteran’s career ends not with a bang but a whimper.
Torres ends his career with 137 G and 123A in 635 games with seven NHL teams. More telling is that he racked up 497 PIMs alongside thee fines and five suspensions. In total Torres missed over 70 games due to league discipline. Torres started his NHL career on the right foot by stringing together two 20+ goal campaigns with the Edmonton Oilers (after being traded by the NY Islanders), and was instrumental in the Oilers’ cinderella run to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals. He then played a role in Vancouver’s Final run in 2010-11 before the Canucks also lost in seven games.
It was the latter part of Torres’s career, however, that fans and players will remember. Since 2010, Torres was suspended three times for illegal hits to Jordan Eberle, Marian Hossa, and Jakub Silfverberg, the last one carrying a 41-game penalty. Torres did not play again in the NHL after the Silfverberg suspension due partially to a knee injury.
Torres attempted to make a comeback this year by signing a PTO with the Carolina Hurricanes. He established that it was the NHL or bust, and that he would not continue playing if he did not make the big team out of camp. Unfortunately for Torres, however, his play did not warrant an NHL spot and he was released after just two games. When no other offers came, Torres slipped quietly into retirement.