from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

“The last two seasons have been hard,” he said in an interview that will air during Wednesday night’s pre-game show. (A longer version can be seen Thursday.) “We missed the playoffs both occasions, and…my playing time was kind of cut a little bit and not to my liking…I thought I was going to play a lot more and be more productive.”

“I’d like to end it…not leaving like that.”

It’s easy to look at him, see a 42-year-old going to the Hall of Fame, and say, “No sympathy.”

But, whenever a situation like this arises, I remember an interview with Wade Redden when the Rangers sent him to AHL Hartford. Redden wanted to quit, but was convinced by Curtis Leschyshyn (among others) not to leave angry at the game. That always stuck with me. Redden gutted it out and wrote a much better ending.

Very few of us get to write our own goodbyes.

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