Theoren Fleury officially retired from the NHL today.
It was a relatively quick ceremony at the Sadledome in Calgary.
It was a final good-bye from an on-ice perspective after he scored four points in four pre-season games.
Commissioner Gary Bettman lifted Fleury's lifetime ban for violating the league's substance abuse policy which allowed Fleury to participate in Flames pre-season camp.
"Do I want to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame? Absolutely. Do I deserve it? I think I do. Four years ago, did I deserve it? No, I didn't," he said, adding that the Hall is incentive to continue his sobriety.
"I'm going to continue to have to live my life the way I've chosen to."
Once critical of the league's substance abuse and behavioral health program, which is designed to address and treat players' drug and alcohol addictions, Fleury now supports it.
"I know I've said things in the past about the program but that's because was in a completely different place," he said. "I was still angry, I was still bitter, I was a lot of things. What it comes down to is nobody likes to face consequences. I had some real consequences I had to face.
"The places I went to and the people I interacted with because of the program got me here today . . . where I'm a solid, functioning human being in society and I can help other people."
Here's some of his good-bye...
((HT: Calgary Herald))
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