NHL defenseman Alex Goligoski retires at age 39

National Hockey League defenseman Alex Goligoski of Grand Rapids, Minnesota announced his retirement on Thursday at the age of 39 according to Josh Erickson of Pro Hockey Rumors. Goligoski played 17 seasons in the NHL. He was with the Pittsburgh Penguins for four seasons from 2008 to 2011, the Dallas Stars from 2010 to 2016, the Arizona Coyotes from 2016 to 2021, and the Minnesota Wild from 2021 to 2024.

Goligoski’s 2023-24 NHL Stats

Goligoski had 10 assists for 10 points in 36 games. He was a -8 with 18 penalty minutes, two power play assists, 32 shots on goal, 41 blocked shots, 27 hits, three takeaways and 12 giveaways. Goligoski’s power-play points came in Wild wins. The first came on December 19, 2023 in a 4-3 Wild win over the Boston Bruins. Goligoski had a secondary assist to open the scoring at 7:44 of the first period. Marcus Johansson of Landskrona, Sweden scored the goal and Frederick Gaudreau of Bromont, Quebec had the primary assist. The second power-play point came on January 19, 2024 in a 6-4 Wild win over the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. Goligoski had a primary assist on an all-American goal by Ryan Hartman of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Pat Maroon of St. Louis, Missouri had the other assist at 3:22 of the second period to put the Wild up 2-1 at the time.

Goligoski’s NHL career stats

Goligoski played 1078 NHL games over 17 seasons. He had 87 goals and 388 assists for 475 points. He was a +55 with 376 penalty minutes, 148 power-play points, nine shorthanded points, 11 game-winning goals, one faceoff win, 1777 blocked shots, 1164 hits, 215 takeaways, and 782 giveaways. The faceoff win came in a 6-1 Coyotes win over the Anaheim Ducks on March 14, 2019.

Stanley Cup champion

Goligoski was on the Penguins’s team that won the 2009 Stanley Cup. In seven games, the Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings four games to three. It should be noted that Goligoski got a Stanley Cup ring even though he did not play for the Penguins in the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals. He was eligible to get his name on the Stanley Cup and get a ring because he played a minimum of 41 regular season games for Pittsburgh that year (played 45).