The Chicago Blackhawks are likely to make some changes to the roster during NHL Free Agency this summer. What exactly they do remains to be seen. However, one change became clear on Saturday before Chicago faced Jim Montgomery’s St. Louis Blues. Veteran forward Pat Maroon is retiring at the end of the 2024-25 season.
Maroon announced his decision prior to Saturday’s game. The three-time Stanley Cup champion did not record a point in the 4-1 loss to the Blues. However, he certainly left quite an impact on the ice throughout his career. And Montgomery highlighted this impact when speaking with reporters following Saturday’s victory.
“I had the good fortune of coaching Pat Maroon in Boston last year and in the playoffs. He is an exemplary and great teammate and he’s an incredibly intelligent hockey mind and player. He’s very underrated about how well he understands the game,” the Blues head coach said, via NHL.com’s Lou Korac.
“He’s one of the best players at making plays off walls and breakouts at leading to 2-on-1s, and everybody knows how he sacrifices for the team. And on the bench, he made a huge impact for us in Boston because he brings energy, he lifts people up, he coaches people that he’s playing with. Sorry to see him retire, but what a career. A champion.”
Pat Maroon makes retirement announcement before Blues clash
As mentioned, Maroon is a three-time Stanley Cup champion. The veteran forward won two of these Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021. The year before that, though, he won it all with his hometown Blues.
The current Blackhawks forward signed in St. Louis as a free agent in 2018. The Blues did not have the best start to the season by any means. In fact, they were at the bottom of the NHL at on point. However, after a coaching change, the team caught fire. And it resulted in the Blues defeating the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.
This could be one reason the veteran forward decided to announce his retirement on Saturday. Playing in one’s hometown certainly feels like a perfect moment to begin the next chapter. It allowed Maroon a moment to reflect on what the city has meant to him throughout his career.
“To get to have a special moment tonight and be in St. Louis, to have my family come to town … I won a Stanley Cup here and I’m just going to finish this year as every game is going to be my last game,” the Blackhawks forward said, via NHL.com “I’m going to play as hard as I can and do everything I can to keep winning hockey (games). It’s all I know … it’s tough.”
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