Former NHLer Tommy Wingels retires from pro hockey

Forward Tommy Wingels, who played 448 games in the NHL with four different teams, has decided to hang up his skates at the age of 32. Wingels, who has spent the past two seasons with Geneve Servette of the Swiss League, told the team he wants to return to his home in Illinois to spend more time with his family.

Wingels was drafted in the sixth round, 177th overall, by the San Jose Sharks in 2008. Most of his NHL career was spent with the Sharks and he had his best season there, putting up 16 goals and 38 points in 77 games during the 2013-14 season. In 2017, he was traded to the Ottawa Senators. At the end of that season, he signed on with his hometown Chicago Blackhawks as a free agent, but was traded to the Boston Bruins in February of 2018. After finishing out the 2017-18 season in Beantown, Wingels signed a two-year deal with Geneve Servette.

"The last two seasons in Geneva have left countless memories, experiences, and encounters that my family and I will never forget," said Wingels in a news release. "But I am now ready and eager to return to my hometown to start a new chapter in my life."

Wingels put up 62 goals and 143 points over the course of his NHL career. He was a close friend of Brendan Burke, son of former NHL GM Brian Burke, who was killed in a car crash in February of 2010. Wingels is a member of the Advisory Board for You Can Play, a campaign dedicated to fighting homophobia in sports which was created in Burke's honour following his death. Burke was an athlete and student manager at Miami University for the RedHawks men's ice hockey team who made headlines in 2009 for coming out, advocating for tolerance and speaking out against homophobia in professional sports.

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