After a brawl-filled career, Darcy Tucker has finally turned his own lights out.
the former Toronto Maple Leaf has announced his retirement today, capping an NHL career that started with him in a Montreal Canadiens sweater in 1995. Tucker signed with the Colorado Avalanche following the 2007/08 season, but after two uneventful years in Denver, the right-winger has called it quits.
Tucker also spent parts of three seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Though he was hardly a pure scorer (he averaged 34 points per for 14 seasons), he was an easy fan favourite thanks to his aggressive style and his willingness to drop the gloves — or, at least, a well-timed, arguably sportsmanlike shoulder. At 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds, Tucker didn’t have much weight to throw around, but he managed to make his presence known.
There will likely be plenty written about Tucker in which writers go to the hoary old sportswriting cliche well: He was gritty, scrappy, full of heart, hard-nosed, played the game the right way, etc. But as he prepares himself for a second act in which he’ll reportedly try his hand at being a scout and agent, let’s take a moment to remember Darcy Tucker as we knew and loved him — demolishing Mike Peca in a playoff game against the Islanders, then shooting the craziest eyes he can muster from the penalty box:
