2 former Calder Cup champions retire

Two former Calder Cup champions announced their retirement from professional hockey this week.

On Tuesday, Tom Fitzgerald retired after 17 NHL seasons played with seven teams. Fitzgerald, 38, was a first-round draft choice by the New York Islanders in 1986, and captured a Calder Cup championship as a member of the Springfield Indians in 1990.

He went on to skate in 1,097 National Hockey League games with the Islanders, Florida, Colorado, Nashville, Chicago, Toronto and Boston. Fitzgerald tallied 139 goals and 190 assists for 329 points in his NHL career.

On Thursday, Keith Primeau announced that he is retiring from professional hockey after 15 seasons of play.

Keith Primeau helped Adirondack to a Calder Cup title in 1992.

Primeau, 34, was a first-round draft pick (third overall) by Detroit in 1990, and was a member of the Adirondack Red Wings’ Calder Cup championship team in 1992.

In 909 NHL games with Detroit, Hartford/Carolina and Philadelphia, Primeau totaled 266 goals and 353 assists for 619 points, along with 1,541 penalty minutes. He was also a member of the Canadian National Team at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games and appeared in two NHL All-Star Games (1999 and 2004).

In 2000, Primeau scored the game-winning goal at 12:01 of the fifth overtime period to give the Flyers a 2-1 win at Pittsburgh in Game 4 of their conference semifinal series, ending the longest game in modern NHL history.