Derian Hatcher Calls It a Career

In his prime, defenseman Derian Hatcher was known for delivering thunderous checks and being dominant in his own end.

During an impressive 17-year career this 37-year-old, originally selected in 1990 by the Minnesota North Stars, became the first American born player to captain his team to a Stanley Cup victory. That accomplishment occurred in 1999 when he registered seven points and a plus-four rating in helping the Dallas Stars to their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

For the 2003/04 campaign Hatcher moved onto the Detroit Red Wings where he signed a five-year deal as an unrestricted free agent. He ended up playing only one injury plagued season in the motor city as he suffered mightily from major knee (torn ACL) and shoulder injuries.

Those setbacks denied Red Wing fans the opportunity to see the full potential of Hatcher as he dressed for only 15 regular season games and scored only four assists but did have an impressive plus-four rating.

Unfortunately for the hulking Michigan native, injuries continued to take their toll and the Red Wings eventually placed him on waivers in July 2005.

After eventually having his contract bought out, the Philadelphia Flyers, who have always prided themselves on being a tough team, took a huge gamble and signed Hatcher to a four-year pact. After two healthy campaigns, knee injuries once again began haunting him and eventually it led to his retirement announcement, made on Monday.

During the 2007/08 season he endured a broken leg along with an assortment of other knee injuries that had him play just 44 games. This past season Hatcher had to sit out the entire season due to knee replacement surgery and decided that now is the right time to call it quits.

Upon retiring, Flyers GM Paul Holmgren hired Hatcher to be the new player development coach. “We are pleased to add Derian to our coaching staff in this very important capacity,” Holmgren said.

“Derian will spend valuable time with the young players throughout our organization, working on their on-ice game as well as helping these young players with the issues playing and/or preparing to play professional hockey.”

Hatcher accepted the position, replying, “It sounded like the perfect way to stay in the game and see if I like it.” In his career Hatcher scored 80 goals and 251 assists in 1,045 games.