from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun,

Unable to get clearance in January to return this season four months after he suffered his fourth concussion in the past 18 months in training camp, the 31-year-old MacArthur travelled to Fort Myers to actually give retirement a shot.

In his first interview since he was denied clearance to play, MacArthur told Postmedia on Sunday that as hard as he tried, he couldnt walk away and thats why hes back in an attempt to see if he can resume his career but, as far as the team is concerned, the status quo remains that he wont be back this season.

I basically, in all honesty, went to Florida to try and retire, MacArthur said in an exclusive interview. If I go out in Florida no one cares about hockey, I thought this would make it easier to get away from it. That worked for about the first week. I thought the whole week that I had convinced myself to move on and do something different. I didnt know what to do or where I was going with it but I was just trying to check myself out of hockey.

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