Former NHL goaltender Jonas Hiller has announced his official retirement. The 38-year-old had been playing in Europe since the 2016-17 season. 2015-16 was the last season he played in the NHL when he was a member of the Calgary Flames. Sean Leahy of NBC sports announced the news earlier Monday afternoon.
Jonas Hiller hangs them up. His murdered-out (https://t.co/kHGV0lS96U) & Movember masks (https://t.co/1qK2PybTMY) were pretty sweet https://t.co/Dhf2AMaJ92
— Sean Leahy (@Sean_Leahy) March 16, 2020
Jonas Hiller Retires from Hockey
It has been some time since Hiller donned an NHL sweater. He’s been playing in Switzerland for the past several seasons and posting good numbers with Biel-Bienne of the NLA. Hiller appeared in 39 NLA games this year with a .918 save percentage and 2.48 goals-against-average. He has experience against players more talented than the ones he was facing but that does take away from his solid play at 38-years-old.
Most of Hiller’s career came with the Anaheim Ducks. He played for that franchise from 2007-08 through 2013-14. He was a .916 save percentage and 2.51 goals-against for that organization before he went to Calgary. Hiller was a fine goalie for Anaheim before the moved on to Frederik Andersen and then John Gibson. Overall, Hiller’s NHL numbers included 197 wins, a .914 save percentage, and a 2.55 goals-against-average and one season with Vezina votes. Those are all respectable for a player who played nine seasons in the league.
What is Hiller’s Legacy
Hiller is probably not a Hall of Fame goaltender. The bar for a goaltender is extremely high. His 197 wins are just 93 on the NHL’s all-time list behind Patrick Lalime and Lorne Chabot. However, he does have the best career of any goaltender born in Switzerland. He was better than both Martin Gerber and David Aebischer with almost twice as many games as either. Hiller isn’t one of the best ever but he represented his country well. He was one of the goaltenders when Switzerland placed 8th in the 2010 Winter Olympics. The Swiss do have not produced a large number of NHL players but Hiller should be celebrated as one of the best.
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