Former Boston Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid -- a longtime favorite of hockey fans throughout New England -- is retiring from the NHL.
"I guess technically I would say today is probably the first time that I would say that I'm done, publicly, but I guess I've known for awhile now that I wouldn't be playing again," McQuaid told CBC News' Shane Ross in a story published Saturday.
UPDATE (Sunday, Jan. 17 at 12:05 p.m. ET): The Bruins acknowledged McQuaid's retirement on Twitter.
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McQuaid made his NHL debut with the Bruins during the 2009-10 campaign, and he spent the first nine seasons of his career in Boston.
Boston Bruins
He helped the B's beat the Vancouver Canucks in a thrilling seven-game 2011 Stanley Cup Final series, which ended the franchise's 39-year championship drought. McQuaid also played a role in Boston advancing to the 2013 Stanley Cup Final. He scored the game-winning goal in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final versus the Pittsburgh Penguins, which clinched a berth in the Cup Final.
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"Those Stanley Cup runs, the atmosphere, coming to the rink and that'll be something no matter what I do I'll never be able to replicate the energy and the intensity of those games and those moments and those experiences," McQuad said, per Ross. "I've got a smile on my face right now thinking about having got to experience those."
McQuaid was traded from the Bruins to the New York Rangers in September of 2018. He played 36 games for the Rangers before being dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets. McQuaid played his final game with the Blue Jackets on March 28, 2019.