Darcy Tucker won’t be playing in the NHL this year; or ever again. After a 15-year career with Montreal, Tampa Bay, Toronto and Colorado, Tucker has announced his retirement after a summer of shopping himself around that ultimately ended without him finding a city willing to pay the money he felt he deserved. In a league where many teams are looking for young talents or fighting salary cap issues, Tucker is an odd man out.

Tucker scored 215 goals throughout his career with an additional 10 in the playoffs. However, he’s probably better known not as a goal scorer but instead as a gritty, power guy in front of the net. If he wasn’t throwing his body around, he was on the bench – or the penalty box – thinking about who he was going to lay out next. Tucker’s skill set translated a lot better to the NHL than most thought, considering his size and speed.

As he is only 35 years old right now, you have to think that in a few more years Tucker will be sitting back in his living room chair watching a game when he’ll suddenly wonder if he left too early. Maybe he’ll go the Theo Fleury route and think that perhaps he actually did have a few more seasons left in him and try out for the Leafs or Avalanche only to realize he’s been gone too long and doesn’t have what it takes.

Or maybe he’s actually retiring to be with his family like he said it was. Choosing to retire can’t be an easy decision for a guy who’s been playing hockey since the day he was born. It’s all he knows. He’ll probably wind up in the front office of some struggling franchise just so he can stay close to the game. Of course if he does that, he’ll have to learn to control his game-fueled temper, and chances are he won’t be working anywhere Michael Peca does.