By Jordan Long
Defenseman Mike Green has decided to call it an NHL career after 15 years. Green played for the Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings, and the Edmonton Oilers. Let’s take a look back at his career.
Green started his career with the Washington Capitals during the 2005-2006 season, appearing in 22 games. He scored 1 goal and 2 assists, a taste of what he could do at the NHL level. Green turned into an offensive defenseman. He was always set up at the top of the blue line during the power plays and used his one-timer to score. If Green didn’t score, a teammate was there to gather the rebound and put it past the goaltender.
His top year for the Capitals was in 2010. That season he recorded a career high 76 points with 19 goals and 57 assists. Of those 19 goals, Green scored 10 of them on the power play. He stayed in Washington until the end of 2015. The Capitals went to the postseason with him 7 times but were unable to win a Cup.
Green was a free agent. He agreed to a contract with the Detroit Red Wings on July 1st, 2015. The contract was for 3-years, paying him a total of $18 million, $6 million a year. His numbers dipped but he was still productive with 30 plus points from 2016 to 2018. Green stayed with the Red Wings until the trade deadline this year. The Red Wings knew they weren’t going to advance to the postseason for the 4th year in a row. They dealt him to the Edmonton Oilers on February 24th.
Green only appeared in 2 games for Edmonton. He missed most of the time due to an MCL sprain. In those games, he didn’t even have a point. The NHL suspended play for the COVID-19 pandemic in March. When the NHL restart happened, Green opted-out for family health reasons. Edmonton was ultimately defeated by the Chicago Blackhawks in 4 games of the qualifying round.
Green thought long and hard and decided it was best to walk away from the game to spend more time with his family. According to nbcsports.com, Green said, “Through this whole thing, it’s sort of highlighted some things. That hockey was abruptly removed from my life, it was tough for a while. But as the future was more and more uncertain, I became more aware of the things that are now the big things in my life — like my daughter crawling and laughing, teaching my son to fish. These are things you think you’re present for, and you think you’re around for when you’re playing. But your mind as a professional athlete, a lot of times, is thinking about the big stage and performing.”
Green finishes his career with 150 goals and 351 assists for a total of 501 points. He never won a Cup but was voted into the NHL All-Star game twice. Green is retiring on his own terms. He will be remembered as a defenseman who played the game the right way.
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