Brind'Amour Hangs Them Up

Another great career has come to an end with the announcement that Rod Brind'Amour has hung up his skates after 21 seasons in the NHL. Drafted 9th overall in 1988, the 39-year old Brind'Amour has had quite the full career, including a Stanley Cup as captain of the Hurricanes, a couple Selke trophies and a top notch reputation in the league as one of the hardest working players to playt the game. He will now take a job in the Hurricanes front office, now that he's officially off the ice.

Brind'Amour played in 1,484 career games between St. Louis, Philadelphia and Carolina, amassing 452 goals and 732 assists (1,184 points), which ranks him 46th all-time in the NHL and that's nothing to shake a stick at.  He had career highs of 37 goals in 1993 with the Flyers and 62 assists & 97 points in 1994, also with the Flyers.

In 2010, Brind'Amour was really tailing off the scoresheet, only picking up 10 goals and 11 assists in 80 games, really developing into that 3rd line centre role, taking key face-offs for the team and such.  Unfortunately, his defensive numbers slipped dearly and he had a couple of terrible years in the plus/minus column, -23 in 2009 and -29 in 2010.  Nevertheless, he should be remembered for the great years he put in to the NHL and his Stanley Cup run for the Hurricanes.

Strike him from your 2011 Draft lists.