After 23 seasons Al MacInnis will call it quits on Friday afternoon. A 2:30 press conference is scheduled, where the Blues defenseman will announce his retirement. The decision doesn’t come as a surprise. MacInnis played just three games in the 2003-2004 season after an eye injury prevented him from playing the rest of the season. He eventually required surgery on both eyes, suffering a detached retina in one.
MacInnis played 23 seasons in the NHL, amassing 1,274 points, which is the third-best total ever among defensemen.
He played the first 13 seasons of his career with the Calgary Flames, winning a Stanley Cup in 1989. In 1994, he joined the Blues. MacInnis was a seven-time NHL All-Star and he was a member of the 2002 Canadian Olympic hockey team, which won the gold medal.