ST. LOUIS — Blues defenseman and Stanley Cup champion Jay Bouwmeester has made it official. His time in the NHL is over.
Bouwmeester officially announced his retirement to the Athletic on Monday, ending his 17-year career in the league. He had been with the Blues for the last eight seasons.
The 37-year-old defenseman won a World Junior Championship, a gold medal with Canada in the Olympics and a Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019.
Bouwmeester suffered a cardiac event on the bench in Anaheim on Feb. 11, 2020. He was rushed to a hospital, and doctors successfully installed an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator, which is a device that monitors heart function and can deliver a shock to the heart if an arrhythmia happens to restore a regular heartbeat.
Bouwmeester played 1,240 games in his 17-year NHL career, totaling 88 goals and 336 assists. From 2004 to 2014, Bouwmeester played in 737 consecutive games, the ninth longest streak of all-time. He joined the Blues in the 2012-2013 season after a trade from Calgary.