Washington Capitals: Mike Green hangs up his skates

Former Washington Capitals defenseman Mike Green has retired.

Mike Green has officially announced his retirement. Although he ended his career with the Edmonton Oilers he will always be remembered for what he did during his time with the Washington Capitals.

Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic (subscription required) released a feature interview of Green where he explained why he is hanging up his skates at age 34. A big reason why he wants to step away from the game is to spend time with his family.

Green still possibly had some hockey left in him but when the season was paused due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, it changed his perspective on things. He opted out of the NHL’s resumption.

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“Being an athlete isn’t the only part of who I am. I am a husband, father, son, brother, uncle. I’ve been very fortunate to turn my passion into my profession, but at this point in my life, I’m considering other things that I feel called to do,” said Green.

Green spent 15 seasons in the NHL with stops in Detroit with the Red Wings as well. Green was drafted by the Caps in 2004 in the first round at 29th overall. So he and Alex Ovechkin were the new faces of the team and a part of the young guns that included Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin.

Green was an impact player in 2007-08 for Bruce Boudreau with 18 goals and 38 assists for 56 points that included four game winning goals, giving him the nickname Game Over Green. Green had four game winning goals for three straight years and a breakout season where he scored 31 goals in 2008-09 that included 18 of them on the power play.

“We were able to do some pretty incredible things in a short period of time. Obviously, not to the extent of what we wished we would have accomplished (in the postseason). Before you knew it, there were more and more people in the stands. Then it sold out,” added Green.

Also in that 08-09 season, Green scored goals in eight consecutive games which set a record for an NHL defensemen still untouched to this day.

Green suited up for 575 games with the Caps and scored 113 goals and added 247 assists for 360 points. He ended his career with 20 game winning goals with the Caps giving announcer Joe Beninati plenty of times to say “Game Over Green”.

Stars and Sticks would like to congratulate Mike Green on a solid NHL career and wish him and his family the best.