Simon Gagne, who scored 601 points and won the Stanley Cup during a 14-season NHL career, announced his retirement Tuesday.
Gagne was the 22nd pick in the 1998 NHL Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers and played 691 of his 822 regular-season games with them. He helped the Flyers to the Eastern Conference Final in 2000 and 2004, and to the Stanley Cup Final in 2010.
"Today, I want to thank my trainers and teammates," Gagne, 35, said in a press release. "You inspired me to surpass myself. You made me understand that you need more than talent; it takes sacrifice and discipline and you need to work harder than your rivals. I also wish to thank my fans. Every evening, you energized me and inspired me to perform."
Gagne also played for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings and Boston Bruins, where he concluded his career with 23 games last season. He finished with 291 goals.
Gagne scored at least 20 goals seven times in his career. His best season came with the Flyers in 2005-06 when he had 47 goals and 79 points. He had 41 goals and 68 points the following season.
Throughout his career Gagne was known as a clutch performer in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, scoring 37 goals and 59 points in 109 postseason games. He scored nine goals in the Flyers' run to the Final in 2010, including the game-winner in the third period of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Bruins, as the Flyers completed a comeback from a 3-0 series deficit by rallying from 3-0 down in the first period for a 4-3 win in Game 4.
Gagne was traded to the Lightning that summer and helped them to the Eastern Conference Final in 2011 by scoring five goals and 12 points in 12 games.
Gagne then signed a two-year contract with the Kings. A concussion limited him to 34 regular-season games in 2011-12 and he missed most of the playoffs, but returned for the final four games of the Kings' six-game series win against the New Jersey Devils as the franchise and Gagne each won the Stanley Cup for the first time.
Gagne was traded back to the Flyers the following season and had five goals in 27 games. After not playing in 2013-14 he made the Bruins out of training camp last season and had three goals, including the game-winner against the Arizona Coyotes in his final game on Dec. 6. Gagne left the team following the death of his father and decided not to play the rest of the season.
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