Injury forces Martin Hanzal into retirement

33-year-old Czech forward Martin Hanzal has told a media outlet in his home country that his back issues have forced him to retire from professional hockey. This shouldn't come as a huge surprise as Hanzal did not take part in any games for the Dallas Stars in the 2019-20 season and has played a total of just 45 games since the 2017-18 year.

Hanzal is a former first-round draft pick, 17th overall, of the Arizona Coyotes. His draft year was 2005, when the Coyotes were still operating under the Phoenix name. Despite being a big guy (six-foot-six and 230 lbs), Hanzal has been plagued by injuries his entire career. After playing 81 games with Phoenix in 2009-10, Hanzal had issues almost every season after that. In February of 2015, it was announced that he was having season ending back surgery while still with the Coyotes. In February of 2017, just months before he would become a free agent, he was dealt to the Minnesota Wild. After finishing the season there, he signed a three-year deal with the Dallas Stars worth $4.75 million per season. That deal expires at the end of this season.

According to the article, Hanzal will work with others to create a team for the Czech Regional League, a third tier league, and it appears he may be suiting up for the team.

"Frantisek Mrázek came up with the idea," Hanzal said. "We took it as a great idea. There are a lot of guys around us, our friends, who no longer play top, but like to prolong their career when they get the opportunity to play at home and avoid long journeys."

Hanzal retires having played in 673 NHL games, recording 127 goals and 338 points.

Source: Hokej.cz

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