Martin Havlat, one of the players who led the Chicago Blackhawks’ resurgence in the last decade, retired from the NHL on Wednesday.
Havlat played 14 seasons in the league, including three with the Hawks from 2006-09. Havlat scored 64 goals and added 95 assists in 172 regular-season games with the Hawks after being acquired in a trade with the Ottawa Senators on July 9, 2006. Then-general manager Dale Tallon signed Havlat to a three-year, $18 million contract extension with the Hawks.
The winger’s finest season in Chicago was during the ’08-09 campaign when he had 29 goals and 48 assists in the regular season to lead the Hawks to their first postseason appearance since ’02. Havlat was stellar during the playoffs that season with five goals and 10 assists in 16 games but was injured during Game 3 of the Western Conference finals when he was leveled by an illegal hit from the Detroit Red Wings’ Niklas Kronwall. The Hawks went on to lose the series in five games.
A free agent following that season, Havlat and the Hawks engaged in often contentious contract negotiations that failed to produce a deal. He then went on to sign a six-year, $30 million deal with the Minnesota Wild. On the day he signed with the Wild, Havlat tweeted, "There’s something to be said for loyalty and honor." A few days later he tweeted that he didn’t leave the Hawks, "they left me."
In announcing his retirement Wednesday, Havlat penned a letter that was posted on the NHLPA’s Web site. In it he expressed regret at leaving the Hawks.
"I left Ottawa for Chicago after five seasons," Havlat wrote. "Both Ottawa and Chicago will always be special places in my heart. They are great cities and good organizations, and I met a lot of great people there. It was hard to leave Chicago after three years and then playing in another conference final in 2009. Really, it was hard to leave both Ottawa and Chicago. But that’s hockey.
"In Ottawa, Chicago and Minnesota, in particular, I was fortunate to have four men who believed in me in a lot: Marshall Johnston, Dale Tallon, Joel Quenneville and Chuck Fletcher," Havlat continued. "They made a difference in my life forever."
Havlat also played for the San Jose Sharks, New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues but had not appeared in an NHL game in the last 14 months while trying to overcome injuries.
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