WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Paul Kariya is retiring from the NHL, unable to return from post-concussion symptoms that forced him to miss all of last season.
Kariya made the announcement Wednesday in a statement released by his agent, Don Baizley.
The former star left wing finished his 15-season NHL career with the St. Louis Blues. Kariya missed six games in December and January of the 2009-10 season because of a concussion and announced last August that he would sit out the entire 2010-11 season after being examined by concussion specialist Dr. Mark Lovell.
Kariya has a long history of concussion troubles, including one that forced him to miss the 1998 Winter Olympics and much of the 1997-98 season following a cross-check to the jaw by Chicago’s Gary Suter.
The 36-year-old Kariya scored 402 goals and helped set up 587 others in a stellar career with Anaheim, Colorado, Nashville and St. Louis. He was also a two-time Lady Byng Trophy winner.
