When hockey players hang up their skates before the age of 40, you know they still want to be out there playing. Whether it was something they were forced to do due to injury or other reasons, they still have a love for the game and it's been well documented that when hockey players retire and step away from the game, it's one of the hardest things they have to do.
For a regular player like myself, you start playing usually from the young age of 4-6 and play until you are 18 then either you stop because you couldn't get to a higher level, or you keep playing pick up or a beer league once or twice per week. But for a professional player, they are playing multiple times per week, their whole lives revolve around hockey, prepping for hockey, training for hockey etc.. When they retire, they don't know what to do with themselves because hockey is all they've ever known.
34 year old Patrik Berglund last played in the NHL in 2019, when he decided he didn't want to be a member of the Buffalo Sabres anymore and returned home to Sweden, having his NHL contract terminated.
He played for two seasons in the SweHL league, where he ended up having his contract terminated with Brynas IF after he was arrested on charges of assault in May 2021, which he denied.
Recently, he has been skating with Vasteras IK which is his hometown team, and the Sports Director of the team, Patrik Zetterberg, said he is willing to sign Berglund if he is ready to return to hockey.
Over his NHL career, Berglund played in 717 games, scoring 170 goals and 326 points. This guy still has some game left in the tank.
