Sydor Hangs Them Up

This morning, I finally got around to striking Darryl Sydor from my list of active players. On Tuesday, the veteran defenseman announced that he had retired from active NHL duty, all as part of the plan to join the Houston Aeros coaching staff for the 2011 season.

A former 1st round draft pick in 1990, Sydor played in 18 NHL seasons between Los Angeles, Dallas, Columbus, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh and St. Louis, racking up 507 points (98 goals and 409 assists) in 1,291 games. That's a very solid career by anyone's standards. Sydor has two Stanley Cups to his name, one in Dallas and the other in Tampa Bay and also played in two All-Star Games.

In 2010, you could really see his numbers finish their decline, playing in only 47 games and picking up 8 assists. He was slowly being phased out and he is now fortunate to have another opportunity right around the corner.