TORONTO — Michael Peca is retiring after 13 seasons as one of the top two-way forwards in the NHL. The 35-year-old center called it quits Tuesday after going unsigned this offseason.
“I’m not sad by any means,” Peca said. “Several months ago, I came to the decision I wasn’t going to play anymore. Today’s really just a day that I made a public statement. For me, it was so every time I run into old friends, they quit asking me if I’m done or not.
“Now they’ve got the answer. It’s kind of like a mass e-mail.”
Peca spent last season with the Blue Jackets. He received some interest from Western Conference teams, but was reluctant to move far from his family’s home near Buffalo, N.Y.
“I wasn’t going to uproot my family again,” Peca said. “I was very selective, maybe so selective to the point that realistically I knew that there probably wouldn’t be an opportunity.”
Peca, a two-time winner of the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s top defensive forward, was part of two Stanley Cup finalists — the 1999 Sabres and 2006 Oilers. He won gold with Team Canada at the 2002 Olympics.
In 864 games with Columbus, Vancouver, Toronto and the Islanders, Peca had 176 goals and 465 points.
Sykora waived; Burns returns
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Wild placed winger Petr Sykora and rookie Robbie Earl on waivers.
Earl can be returned to the minors or stay with the Wild if he clears, but Sykora’s stint with Minnesota is all but over.
Sykora turned down richer offers to play in Russia and signed a one-year, $1.6 million contract with the Wild in September.
Sykora ranked fourth on the Stanley Cup champion Penguins last season with 46 points in 76 games, but he had only two goals and one assist in 14 games with Minnesota, missing nearly two months while recovering from a concussion.
Also, defenseman Brent Burns skated with the team for the first time since suffering a concussion two months ago.
Footnotes.
The Predators signed defenseman Kevin Klein to a three-year, $4 million contract that runs through the 2012-13 season.
• A day after he was put on injured reserve with a foot ailment, left wing Fredrik Modin was activated by the Blue Jackets.
