{"id":36165,"date":"2018-09-24T14:51:44","date_gmt":"2018-09-24T18:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=36165"},"modified":"2018-09-24T14:51:44","modified_gmt":"2018-09-24T18:51:44","slug":"brian-gionta-retires-after-16-seasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2018\/09\/24\/brian-gionta-retires-after-16-seasons\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian Gionta Retires After 16 Seasons"},"content":{"rendered":"

After 16 season NHL forward Brian Gionta<\/a><\/strong> announced\u00a0his retirement after spending 16 seasons in the NHL. Gionta signed with a one-year deal with the Boston Bruins<\/a> last February.<\/p>\n

Brian Gionta Calls It A Career<\/h1>\n

Over the course of his 16-year career, Gionta played for the New Jersey Devils<\/a>, Montreal Canadiens<\/a>, Buffalo Sabres<\/a>, and Boston Bruins. He scored 291 goals and 304 assists for 595 points in 1,026 career games. He had 32 goals and 36 assists for 68 points in 113 Stanley Cup Playoff games. Gionta also played for the United States during the 2006 Winter Olympics.\u00a0 Gionta was originally drafted in the third round,82nd overall by the Devils in the 1998 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n

Last season Gionta had two goals and five assists for seven points in 20 games. He also added two minutes\u00a0in penalties. His possession\u00a0numbers were 54.2 percent Corsi with a relative Corsi of 0.3 percent. Gionta went scoreless in one Stanley Cup Playoff game last season.<\/p>\n

Gionta spent the first seven seasons of his career playing for the Devils including bringing them a Stanley Cup in 2003. He scored 152 of 291 career goals in a Devils uniform. Gionta signed with Montreal in 2009 and later that season would put up 9 goals and six assists for 15 points in 19 games which would be a playoff high\u00a0for him. In 2014 Gionta signed with the Buffalo Sabres which was near his hometown of Rochester, NY. Gionta would be brought to a young Buffalo team who lacked veterans and would be named captain a role he would hold throughout his time in Buffalo.<\/p>\n

What’s Next for Gionta<\/h1>\n

Now that his playing career is over Gionta plans on taking a management position\u00a0with the Buffalo Sabres. In a press conference\u00a0announcing his retirement, Gionta was quoted that “playing for the Sabres was a highlight of my career<\/a>,”.<\/p>\n

Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>