After a career spanning 16 seasons veteran defenceman Keith Yandle has announced his retirement. The veteran defenceman will be “taking his talents to South Beach and doing nothing” he made the announcement to his friends over at Spittin’ Chiclets.
"I'm retiring from the game of hockey….Taking my talents to South Beach and doing nothing."
Our guy Keith Yandle joined us to officially announce his retirement from the NHL. A true legend in every aspect of the word.
Full Announcement: https://t.co/6t6hqhxf8r pic.twitter.com/bIa3KCvjQO
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) September 20, 2022
Keith Yandle NHL Iron Man Retires
Yandle currently holds NHL iron man streak with 989 consecutive games played. The American born defenceman past Doug Jarvis’ former iron man record of 964 games on January 25 of last season. However, Yandle’s streak came to an end March 29, as the Flyers interim head coach Mike Yeo made him healthy scratch. In a meaningless game statistically, Yeo cited giving playing time to Flyers prospect defenceman as reasoning for the scratch.
With the current NHL Iron Man retiring, Phil Kessel is in line to break the record this season. Kessel who signed with Vegas this summer has played in 982 consecutive games.
Yandle’s Career Accomplishments
Prior to playing in the NHL, Yandle played in the QMJHL for the Moncton Wildcats. He won the Emile Bouchard trophy as the league’s best defenceman and was named a First Team All-Star. The Wildcats, featuring future NHL star Brad Marchand, played in the Memorial Cup Final
Yandle was then drafted by the Arizona Coyotes in 2005, 105th overall in the 4th round. He played nine seasons with Arizona before being traded to the New York Rangers in the 2014-15 season. He played the 2015-16 season with the Rangers before signing with the Florida Panthers ahead of the 2016-17 season. After playing five seasons with the Panthers, the 36-year-old played his final season with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Over the course of his career, Yandle provided his teams with some offensive production from the blue line. He finishes his career with 103 goals, 516 assists for 619 points in 1109 games played. Yandle was a power play catalyst for the teams he suited up for. He played in three NHL All-Star games in 2011, 2012 and 2019.
The 36-year-old also appeared in 58 playoff games scoring 6 goals and 30 assists.
All good things must come to an end and that has been a common theme today with Zdeno Chara and PK Subban also announcing their retirements.
