David Krejčí retiring permanently from professional ice hockey over health issues

After retiring from the NHL in August of this year, it was apparent that Czech professional ice hockey player David Krejčí still had plans to play the game, despite leaving the Boston Bruins after 16 seasons. However on Friday, his manager announced that he would be retiring entirely, citing health issues as the primary reason.

Sixteen seasons as a Boston Bruin, one Stanley Cup championship in 2011, and two bronze medals at the World Championship dressed for his country, David Krejčí is one of the most celebrated Czech ice hockey players to date. In August of this year, the Czech forward announced his retirement from the NHL.

While Boston fans were saddened by the departure of a player who had been on their team’s roster for nearly two decades, at the time it seemed Czech teams would benefit.

David Krejčí|Photo: Czech Olympic Committee

He announced that he had plans to play for the Czech national team in the 2024 International Ice Hockey Championships in Prague and Ostrava. There was also speculation that he would play for an Extraliga team in Czechia, namely Olomouc – a club he played for during the 2021 season while on pause from the NHL, Pardubice, or Třinec.

On Friday, Krejčí’s manager announced that he would no longer be playing the game, citing health issues and a lower back injury that is preventing him from training and working out, a full retirement that was not foreseen back in August when he left the NHL.

Since then, support and words of gratitude have been expressed for the player, with the Czech Olympic Team tweeting a message saying: “David, thank you, for all the great experiences. For beautiful goals and especially those breath-taking passes that were sometimes beyond human understanding.”

Krejčí had a reputation of being a skilled and intuitive playmaker, an essential centre-man who played up the middle, a critical part of Boston’s offensive line. Throughout his NHL career, he scored a total of 1231 goals, and made 555 assists. This leaves him as the 5th ranked Czech ice hockey player for NHL points in the league’s history.

Krejčí is among other important Czech hockey players who have recently retired, including Tomáš Plekanec, who skated for the Montreal Canadiens for nearly two decades, and Tomáš Kaberle, a long time Toronto Maple Leaf.