Derek Stepan retires from playing

[Filthy Dangles]

If MDZ got a thread, Derek should get one

Click to read more...

 

[I Eat Crow]

Shame he's going to the Wild. Would have loved to bring him back in some capacity. Smart player that would make a great scout or coach.

 

[RangersFan1994]

 

[Synergy27]

I remember this like it was yesterday. The only problem is, it wasn’t yesterday, and I’m now 13 f***ing years older than I was then.

Stepan is going to get fat really quickly in retirement.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

I remember this like it was yesterday. The only problem is, it wasn’t yesterday, and I’m now 13 f***ing years older than I was then.

Stepan is going to get fat really quickly in retirement.

He’s gonna look like his dad in no time

 

[Baby Punisher]

It's amazing that he had the career that he had. One of the worst skaters I have ever seen play in a top 6 capacity. He certainly made the most of it.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

did he end up marrying that dime piece?

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

did he end up marrying that dime piece?

Stephanie Kent, yes

 

[McRanger92]

Nothing but love for Stepan. Was a key contributor for a lot of really good Ranger teams from Day 1. The OT series winner against the Caps was a high point obviously. Hopefully he finds his way back around MSG.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Love DStep. He was such a good player for us during those prime years we had going for the Cup.

 

[will1066]

Shame he's going to the Wild. Would have loved to bring him back in some capacity. Smart player that would make a great scout or coach.

You can't take the Minnesota out of the boy.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

It's amazing that he had the career that he had. One of the worst skaters I have ever seen play in a top 6 capacity. He certainly made the most of it.

Hes one of the least athletic people I've seen in any sport.

As you said, he made it work. I've long been of the belief that he would make an excellent head coach in this league if he wants to do it but he'd probably do just as well as an executive.

 

[duhmetreE]

He played 10 years ahead of his age

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

He was an excellent draft pick. Seemed like a fantastic teammate. His 2010 WJC performance is still the best I’ve ever seen. He has been out scored by others in that tournament, but Step’s points came when they mattered most, on top of leading the PK and captaining the team.

His hockey IQ and passing were top tier. Not sure he was even an NHL player without it them though lol - one of the worst skaters I’ve ever seen. Moved like a 40 year old just 5 years into his career.

 

[Machinehead]

The physical (or perhaps un-physical) embodiment of "how?"

Beats a lot of guys we've had who are the physical embodiment of "why?"

 

[FultonReed]

he's gonna be a hell of a coach one day. one of my favorites to play here in the last decade, bar none. couldn't win a faceoff for beans, but the one he did win (with the help of Fast), lead to the most important goal he scored for this organization. hope he makes his way back here one day, but now he gets to hang out with Zucc all the time.

 

[17futurecap]

Excellent Ranger, also one of the rare times the organization traded a guy at the perfect timing of his career about to drop from what he was being paid.

 

[will1066]

His vision and positional game allowed him to succeed until the game became too fast.

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

Lot of hate when he was drafted. Legendary hate. Legendary, ignorant hate

 

[savebyrichter94]

Lot of hate when he was drafted. Legendary hate. Legendary, ignorant hate

Lots of insecurity was on display

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

Hard to believe he's hanging up the skates already.

Had an immediate impact and quickly became one of my favorite Rangers.

13 years went really fast.

186 Byng votes and another 71 for Selke. Played a really well rounded game and we know all of the big goals he scored for this team.

Congrats on a great career Step!

 

[FultonReed]

His vision and positional game allowed him to succeed until the game became too fast.

guy saw stuff happening 2 seconds before everyone else did. he needed to, because he skated like he was knee deep in shit. it was amazing to watch.

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

My favorite Stepan goal outside of the huge ones.

Alex Ovechkin goes viral for a much more positive ‘controller disconnected’ moment

Early in Alex Ovechkin's career, the national media was critical of the Capitals captain for several moments of, what I'm going to…

russianmachineneverbreaks.com

 

[Brutananadilewski]

I will miss him like he misses his hairline.

 

[TGWL]

These videos remind me how Avery was so underrated working the boards behind the net. A lot of that went unnoticed because of his personality and antics. Never got half the credit he should have received from NHL fans in general.

I remeber Sam and Joe jokingly talking about "This is how you make the team", with Stepan being such a smart player and going to the right areas to get on the scoresheet. I think he benefited from the league not being as fast, but he was a smart player on the rink who had a lot of heart.