Dan Girardi retires after 13 years in the NHL
Former New York Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi has announced his retirement after a 13 year NHL career, 11 in New York.
Dan Girardi was a fixture on the New York Rangers blueline for 11 seasons and was an important cog in the team that made it to the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals. Girardi was a true success story, an undrafted player who worked his way to the top defensive pairing on the best team in the NHL.
The announcement came from the Tampa Bay Lightning where Girardi played the last two seasons. Here is what Girardi had to say about his time in New York:
“I would like to thank all my coaches, family, friends and teammates for supporting me throughout my entire hockey career. I want to thank the New York Rangers for giving me a chance to fulfill my childhood dream of playing in the NHL. Throughout those 11 incredible years I have made so many friends on and off the ice. I bled Ranger blue and gave it my all for my team, the city and the Garden faithful.”
It’s telling that he spoke first about his time in New York where he was the very definition of the word”warrior.” Since the NHL began keeping track of blocked shots in 2005-06, Girardi has blocked more shots than any other NHL player (1,954).
His Ranger career
He retires having played more playoff games as a Ranger skater than any other Blueshirt. He played in a stunning 122 playoff games for the Rangers, often through debilitating injuries. Only Henrik Lundqvist has played more playoff games than Girardi with 128. Believe it or not, Girardi is sixth on the list of Rangers with 22 even strength assists, only five behind team playoffs record holder Mark Messier.
Girardi holds the single game record for blocked shots by a Ranger, with ten in a 2015 win over Winnipeg. He is one of 29 NHL players to block ten shots in a game since they started keeping records in 2005-06.
He blocked more than 2,000 shots in his time with the Blueshirts in the regular season and playoffs. He paid the price, playing with injuries including a cracked kneecap, deep cuts, a concussion and a badly mangled thumb. He played half of the 2015-16 season with that cracked kneecap, suffered while doing what else? Blocking a shot. He missed five games and returned to the lineup because “he couldn’t hurt it any further.”
Girardi is sixth among Ranger defensemen in games played with 788 and played five seasons without missing a game. He played in the 2012 All-Star Game and he finished sixth in Norris Trophy voting that year.
With the Lightning
Girardi’s time with the Blueshirts came to an end after the 2016-17 season when the team bought out the last three years of his six year, $33 million contract to free up cap space. He then signed with the Lightning where he found himself reunited with longtime defense partner Ryan McDonagh when the Ranger captain was dealt to Tampa at the trade deadline.
He revived his career with Tampa, playing 139 regular season and 21 playoff games and paid tribute to the Lightning:
“I also want to thank the Tampa Bay Lightning for helping me continue my career by giving me a chance to play for such an amazing organization, city and fan base. The last two years in Tampa Bay have been so much fun for me and my family. I will always fondly remember my time here.”
An unrestricted free agent after last season, he was open to signing with another NHL club, but decided to call it quits this week. He returned to the his family in his last comments:
“Finally, I want to thank my wife Pamela for always being there for me and holding down the fort and to Landon and Shaye for always being daddy’s No. 1 fans. I gave my all every single night and left it all out on the ice. Now it’s time for the next chapter of my life to begin and I couldn’t be happier…and so is my body.”
Reaction
As expected, the reaction from the hockey world was swift. The Rangers posted a heartfelt tribute including messages from some of his longtime teammates.
G,
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 20, 2019
Thank you for 11 years of giving us your all.
Thank you for being one of us. #NYR pic.twitter.com/74EBkG6CnG
As did the Lightning.
A reminder that there’s nobody like Dan Girardi.
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) September 20, 2019
Never change, G! We’re excited to see what’s next for you. ⚡️
pic.twitter.com/DODk9RXSwW
The NHL Players Association weighed in:
From undrafted to 927 NHL games – with a whole lot of blocked shots in between – Dan Girardi was loved by his teammates for what he brought both on and off the ice.
— NHLPA (@NHLPA) September 20, 2019
Congrats on retirement, G! pic.twitter.com/SSOMbBS1gb
Journalists who covered Girardi had a lot to say. Dan Rosen of NHL.com tweeted “Funny thing about Girardi is he used to occasionally fake his own interviews when the media would crowd around Henrik Lundqvist or Ryan McDonagh. He would stand there, no one in front of him, and pretend to talk about the game. All in good fun. All for a good laugh after a win.”
Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post tweeted “One of the most genuine, down-to-Earth, hard-working guys I’ve ever covered. Can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t wish him the best.”
Pat Leonard of the Daily News weighed in ” One of my favorite athletes I’ve ever covered. A professional, a human being, and tough as sh!*#)_#*! Congrats on a great career.”
Some business
So, as part of the buyout of Dan Girardi’s contract, the Rangers are on the hook for $3,611,111 this season and $1,111,111 for each of the following three years. By retiring, does this buy any cap relief for the Rangers?
Unfortunately, the answer appears to be no. If the Rangers had not bought him out and Girardi had retired, they would not incur the cap hit, but since they bought out his contract, they are indeed on the hook for the next four years to the tune of $6.94 million.
That contract
While Glen Sather has been castigated for signing Girardi to that long-term multi-million dollar deal, when one looks at his career up to that time, there is some justification for it. He signed the deal in February 2014 at the age of 29.
In the six prior seasons he had missed all of two games. This was after two straight seasons of Norris Trophy consideration and one All-Star Game appearance. He was the right side of the top defensive pair on a team that had gone to the Conference Finals and would go on to the Stanley Cup Finals the same year he inked the deal.
It was “all in” time for the New York Rangers and losing Girardi to free agency would have crippled the defense. While one can argue that this was a horrible deal, at the time he was a big piece of the Stanley Cup puzzle and retaining a top two defenseman was imperative. No one could predict the decline in Girardi’s play, but it is worth noting that over the next three years in New York he was a plus 38 player and he missed only eight games in the first two years after signing.
It’s worth remembering what Girardi brought to the Rangers in the glory years of playoff excitement as opposed to his cap hit and his play in his last year in New York.
More. Let's stop talking about Chris Kreider's contract. light