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Ryan Reaves Reflects on Retirement and What He’ll Miss About NHL Life

A new Sportsnet interview revisits Reaves’ career a month after he announced his retirement from hockey.

By TSP Staff
Ryan Reaves in a Pittsburgh Penguins uniform and helmet in 2017.
Ryan Reaves during his Pittsburgh Penguins playing career on October 4, 2017. File photograph; scaled for display. · Credit: Michael Miller / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0

Ryan Reaves has returned to the microphone to discuss life after hockey, appearing on the JD Bunkis Podcast in an interview published by Sportsnet on Thursday.

Sportsnet describes the conversation as a look back at the retired forward’s career, what he expects to miss and what comes next. The appearance follows his September 16 retirement announcement after 16 NHL seasons.

Reaves finished with 962 regular-season games and 140 points, including 66 goals. His final season was with San Jose, where he scored three goals in 50 games. His career also took him through St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Vegas, the New York Rangers, Minnesota and Toronto.

His most consequential postseason goal came with the Golden Knights in 2018. Reaves scored the winner in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final against Winnipeg, helping send the expansion team to the Stanley Cup Final in its first season.

He played 209 regular-season games for Vegas and appeared in 48 playoff games for the franchise. Across his NHL career, his physical role produced 1,137 regular-season penalty minutes.

TSP previously covered his retirement announcement. The new Sportsnet conversation is available in a six-minute, 49-second video.

Sources and notes

  1. Photo: Michael Miller. File photograph, October 4, 2017; scaled for display under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ryan_Reaves_4_2017-10-04.jpg
  2. Photo licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/