Colorado Avalanche Captain Adam Foote to Retire After the Season

Most Colorado Avalanche fans have seen this coming for much of the season, but Adam Foote is going to make things official as he will announce his retirement from the game of hockey in a press conference to be held tomorrow.

Currently, the Colorado Avalanche web page is listing this only as a "special announcement about his hockey career," but the Denver Post has reported that Foote will be announcing his retirement.

Foote's retirement doesn't just end an era in the Colorado Avalanche, but in hockey as well. Adam Foote is the last remaining active player from the previous Quebec Nordiques franchise. Foote played his first four seasons in Quebec before the team moved to Denver.

Foote's leaving also inches the the door on the glory years of the Colorado Avalanche a bit farther towards closing, as now Milan Hejduk will be the only remaining Avalanche from the 2001 Stanley Cup Championship team.

Adam Foote's career is one that cannot be told by a stat sheet. He played in 1153 NHL games and scored only 66 goals along with 242 assists. Somebody looking at those stats wouldn't be blown away by that in any stretch of the imagination. No, the story of Adam Foote's career is told in the trenches just below the goal line.

Adam Foote is one of the toughest and most able defensemen of all time. His ability to shut down the best players on the opposing teams every night was uncanny.  Many Avalanche fans will never forget Foote's playoff battles with players like Keith Tkachuk and Brendan Shanahan. How Foote waged absolute battles with incredibly talented players in the corners and in front of his goal. 

Foote never backed down from a challenge, and was always one of the first players to step up and defend a teammate.  It's no wonder why the Avalanche named Foote team captain after the retirement of Joe Sakic. 

Foote's team first attitude, incredible work-ethic, undeniable leadership and uncanny knack for doing exactly what his team needed of him in clutch moments made him a perfect pick.

Foote's career, as mentioned above, is not one that gets a lot of attention for his number; nonetheless, Foote did still manage to gain several accolades in his 19 year career. Fittingly, they were all team awards. 

He won Stanley Cups in both 1996 and 2001 with the Colorado Avalanche, won an Olympic Gold Medal with Team Canada in 2002, and won a Gold (2004) and Silver Medal (1996) with Team Canada at the Hockey World Cup.

Adam Foote has never played in a single NHL All-Star game, but that is only because of the nature of his game. He wasn't there to wrack up 40 points or more in a season, he was there to shut the other team down. He is absolutely one of the all time best shut down defensemen the NHL has ever seen.

As I mentioned before, this is something that Avalanche fans have seen coming this year, but it doesn't make it any easier to lose one of your franchise greats. Adam Foote helped bring along some of the best memories in Colorado Avalanche history, and he will be missed, but not forgotten. It is probably a safe bet that number 52 will be joining 19, 77 and 33 in the rafters some day very soon. 

Thanks for the memories Footer. We love you.