David Krejci’s body told him it was time to bid the National Hockey League farewell.
While Krejci, who announced his retirement from the Bruins on Monday, left the door open to play in Europe after the New Year’s in preparation for possible participation in the World Championships when the tournament will be held in Prague, the Czechia-born centerman knew his 37-year-old frame could not hold up to the rigors of a full schedule in the best league in the world.
Krejci didn’t go into the 2022-23 season knowing it was going to be his last, but the injuries that kept him out of the final six games of the regular season and three playoff games removed most of the doubt. He said to continue playing in the NHL he would need surgery (he did not identify the injury) and that’s not something he was willing to do at this stage.
He didn’t want to announce anything right at the end of the season, especially after the painful upset loss to the Florida Panthers, so he wanted to make sure he gave this fork in life’s road the proper deliberation.
“I just realized there’s never a right time, a right moment to retire from NHL. But I felt like it was time,” said Krejci on a Zoom call from his home in South Carolina on Tuesday. “I knew my body couldn’t take 82 games anymore and that was the decision.”
And so, after 1,192 games (playoffs included) in a Bruins sweater, Krejci’s estimable career is done. He leaves as one of the greats in the Bruins’ century-long history, a player who elevated his game when it mattered most, twice leading the league in playoff scoring, including in 2011 when the B’s snapped a 39-year Stanley Cup drought.
There were chances at other Cups. They lost in the Finals to a great Blackhawk team in 2013, then again in 2019 in a brutally tough Game 7 loss at the Garden to St. Louis Blues. And of course, this great season of Bruins’ hockey ended in similar disappointment, bowing out in the first round after a record 65-win season.
“The last year is always going to be there. It’s a missed opportunity and its always going to be there with 2019 and 2013 … but (the Stanley Cup) is the hardest trophy to win,” said Krejci. “You could see it this year. Florida goes from the eighth spot or out of the playoffs with a few games to go in the regular season and they made it all the way to the final. If that was soccer, English Premier League or somewhere else, the best team in the league in the regular season gets a cup and you go home and get ready for the next year. That’s what I like about hockey and that’s what I love about playoffs. Playoffs star from zero and anything can happen. That’s why it’s the hardest trophy to win in the world. I don’t take for granted that I have that ring on my finger from 2011.”
But he didn’t want to dwell on those disappointments. Though Krejci’s B’s suffered their share of gut-punches, it should not be forgotten that he and his contemporaries – Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Tuukka Rask, Tim Thomas, Milan Lucic, David Pastrnak are at the top of the list – put some electricity back onto Causeway Street, which by the time Krejci arrived and his cohorts arrived hadn’t experienced much voltage since the old Garden was torn down in the mid-1990s. Not only were non-sellouts a regular occurrence, the B’s would sometimes fail to sell out their home opener. The club’s consecutive sellout streak is now at 582, with the last non-sellout being Dec. 2, 2009.
“I remember when I first made the team, the Bruins didn’t make the playoffs much and if they did, they would be out the first round,” said Krejci, who said he hopes one day to work in hockey at some capacity, possibly scouting. “I also remember when I was in Providence and I’d go to watch games, TD Garden wasn’t sold out. So I kind of take pride in my first few years – I was lucky to be on good teams – we kind of brought the people back and ever since it’s been amazing playing in front of the fans, sold out arena all the time.”
Krejci’s playing highlights are obvious, with 2011 at the top of the list, especially sweeping the Flyers, against whom he had suffered a broken wrist the previous year when the Philadelphia came back from a 3-0 deficit in the series.
“I think I took it a little more seriously, that series, more personally. And the rest is history,” said Krejci.
But like most retiring players will tell you, Krejci most values the camaraderie, the moments in the locker room and on the road with his teammates. He also gave a nod to to the two centerman who were in place place before him, Marc Savard and Bergeron, who provided Krejci the measuring stick he needed throughout his career.
“I learned so much from them. Then Savvy left and I just tried to keep up with Bergy every year to be as good as him, or get as close as I could, not just on the ice but also the professional he is off the ice,” said Krejci. “I knew I could never come close to that, but just watching him and seeing his work ethic made me a better player. I talked to him about this and he pushed me hard in the summer. I take pride in my summer workouts every year. It’s mainly because of Bergy because I know how hard he works and I had to work as hard just to be in the same position and be right there with him and help the team be successful as number one and number two centermen.”
In time, Krejci became a mentor to younger players, most notably his countryman Pastrnak. Krejci, the brilliant playmaker who set up a large potion of Pastrnak’s 61 goals last season, has confidence in the next Bruin generation.
“Boston, there’s been this culture we all kind of created,” said Krejci. “When I got in there, I was just learning the culture of the Bruins and the dressing room along the way. Then I understood what it takes to be a Bruin, what it means to put on the jersey. I tried to do it with pride. The older I get, I just tried to lead by example, be myself, be respectful to the culture of the Bruins and tried to carry it on. Now you see the young guys coming in and the older guys teaching them the ropes. Now they’ve got it. Pasta’s got, Chuck McAvoy, all the younger guys understand what it means to wear that jersey and there’s no doubt in my mind that they’ll be great leaders. Then they’ll hand the torch to the younger generation But the Bruins organization has been so great and they always draft the right people. It’s going to be fun watching them. It’ll be fun seeing the young kids grow up to be good leaders. I really hope they’re going to get it done soon, so if I still have friends on the team I can get invited to a Cup day.”
As for his own legacy and how he’d like his career to be remembered, he left that for other people to decide. But he’s at peace with himself.
“Everyone will have their own opinion, but I just wanted to do the best I could to represent myself,.my family, the city of Boston and the Bruins organization the best I could,” he said. “And I think for the most part of I’ve done that.”