Life in the EURO League is so good, nobody wants to leave it. Only five players who played at least a game in Season 8 retired, according to Season 9 rosters that came out today.
The most notable is German defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, 38. Seidenberg began his career as a 6th-round draft pick of the Bern Bears (now the Interrail) in the initial draft. He was a key piece of the Bern team for the first six seasons of the EURO League, logging a lot of minutes, averaging 79 games played, 27 points, 93 shots, 202 hits and 94 blocks per season. He was elected to the All-Star Game in his final year with Bern. He then spent Season 7 with Athens and ended his career with a year in Moscow. Last year, he averaged 21 minutes per game and was a +5 player for the Dynamo.
Thirty-eight is pretty old for a player to be skating in the world’s best league, but 11 men as old as Seidenberg or even older still want to play, including 40-year-olds Marian Hossa and Roberto Luongo. Almost all 11 are free agents without contracts. Niklas Kronwall is the oldest player in the league currently under contract. Kronwall, 38, has a year remaining on his $4.75 million pact with Athens.
The only players* other than Seidenberg who played at least a game last year and have retired today are:
- Derek Ryan, Athens (there is another Derek Ryan playing for Berlin still.)
- Kevin Porter, Belfast
- Ryan Reaves, Bern
- Curtis Glencross, Bern
*If you find someone we missed, please let the commissioner know.
