Bobby Holik has decided to retire so he can spend more time with his family at his ranch in Wyoming and at his home in Florida.
The 38-year-old center, who broke in with the Hartford Whalers in 1990-91 and won two Stanley Cups with the Devils, said his decision had nothing to do with the fact that he played only three games in this year's playoffs.
"Absolutely not. I was leaning towards this decision for a long time before that," Holik told me Saturday via telephone from his ranch in Wyoming. "Most importantly, I missed my family too much to be there day to day.
"I had a tremendous time this season, but it's enough. I've done it long enough. I think being a professional hockey player is the best life there can be. It doesn't get better than that, but all good things come to an end. I enjoyed it to the last moment, but I knew the time was coming when I wasn't going to enjoy it. I had to move on. It's enough."
In 1,314 career NHL games with the Whalers, Devils, Rangers and Atlanta Thrashers, Holik scored 747 points (326 goals, 421 assists). He became known for his physical style of play, often skating through the crease to bump into opposing goalies after the whistle.
He played 18 NHL seasons, 11 of them for the Devils.
"When you're that big and strong you don't get hurt too often," former linemate Randy McKay said Saturday from his home in Michigan. "He didn't know his own strength. He'd hurt guys in practice. No wonder guys didn't like to play against him."
Holik, born in Jihlava, Czech Republic, was also a solid defensive player who was skilled at winning faceoffs. His father, Jaroslav, was a celebrated coach in Czechoslovakia.
The Devils brought Holik back this season, signing him to a one-year, $2.5 million deal as a free agent. He played 62 games this season, missing 18 after breaking his pinkie Oct. 18. Holik scored just nine points (four goals, five assists) with 66 penalty minutes.
"I don't have to retire," he said. "I believe I'm very fortunate. Most athletes have to retire because of physical problems or they tell them, 'We don't want you anymore.' "
Would the Devils have taken him back?
"It's a moot point," GM Lou Lamoriello said. "His decision had nothing to do with any decisions we would or would not have made.
"Bobby told me his thoughts. He just felt it was time. He's had a great career."
I asked Holik if he thought he could've returned to the Devils for a second season.
"I never explored it," Holik said. "I knew when I saw you last I wasn't going to play anymore. I just wanted to leave town and, more than anything, I just wanted to get back home. My wife had known for a long time. I didn't tell my parents until recently."
Lamoriello almost certainly would have had neither the salary cap space or inclination to re-sign Holik.
"Lou was the first person from the Devils' organization to know," Holik said. "I told him out of pure respect for Lou. The rest of the people, when they find out they find out."
He said he is completely healthy.
"I'm great," he said. "If you saw me working on the ranch here you would say, 'This guy is healthy.' "
What will he do now?
"I tried to be as professional as I could. When the season was over I wanted to go home and be with my family," he said. "I'm very content with not much. I have good history discussions with my daughter, I read books, I talk to my friends about a lot of different things. Not just hockey. It's time for me to take the next step. I gave everything I had. I had nothing left mentally to give. I wanted to go home and stay home."
Holik was Hartford's first pick (10th overall) in the 1989 entry draft. He played two seasons with the Whalers before the Devils acquired him on Aug. 28, 1992, in a trade for goalie Sean Burke and defenseman Eric Weinrich. The Devils also got future considerations and Hartford's second-round selection in the '93 draft. That pick turned out to be Jay Pandolfo.
Holik was immediately given the nickname Herf.
"I don't know who gave him the nickname, but I know why he got it," McKay said. "Because he ate like a Hereford cow. He ate like no one I ever saw."
While playing the next 10 seasons with the Devils, Holik became known for centering the Crash Line with Mike Peluso and McKay. He won Cups in 1995 and 2000.
During his first stint with the Devils, Holik became a U.S. citizen on Nov. 4, 1996, in Newark. It is one of his proudest achievements.
But he left the Devils as a free agent following the 2001-02 season to sign with the rival Rangers. They did not make the playoffs in Holik's two seasons in New York while the Devils won a third Stanley Cup in '03.
"I don't have any regrets," he told me.
Holik signed with the Thrashers as a free agent in August of 2005, and he played three seasons in Atlanta and served as capatin.
The Devils thought his size and strength would help them win a Cup this spring, but Holik sat out four of the seven playoff games against the Carolina Hurricanes.
"I always gave my best," he said of his career.
"I know one thing. I can walk away and not look back and wonder if I could have done more. Maybe I could have kept quiet at times."
Then he wouldn't have been Bobby Holik.