Veteran AHL forward in the Montreal Canadiens organization announces shock retirement at 34-years old.

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Tom Banks
October 3, 2024 (8:43 PM)

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The Montreal Canadiens have had a very interesting pre-season as an organization, and now AHL forward Gabriel Bourque has surprised by announcing his retirement.

The NHL season is just around the corner, and after a months long off-season, one member of the Montreal Canadiens has surprised the organization with his retirement. That would be 34-year old AHL forward Gabriel Bourque, who was originally drafted by the Nashville Predators in the fifth-round of the 2009 NHL Draft, where he would make his NHL debut with the team in 2011/12.

In the last three years, Bourque has played with the AHL's Laval Rocket, last playing in the NHL in 2019/20 with the Winnipeg Jets, but now, the veteran winger has officially announced his retirement.

This seemingly came out of nowhere, but with little hope of making it back to the NHL, it appears as though Bourque was simply done with his time in the NHL and wanted to move on to post-retirement ventures.

During his time in the NHL, Bourque would skate in 413 games for Nashville, Colorado and Winnipeg, tallying a solid 40 goals and 103 points over that time, but it long became clear that he just wasn't going to make it as an impact player at the top level. From all reports, Bourque is a fantastic teammate on and off the ice, and now he has already found his new role, coaching with Nordiques du Collège Lionel-Groulx, so now we will wait and see what he can make of himself as a hockey coach after being a solid player.

Source: Hockey Patrol
Member of the Montreal Canadiens Organization Announces Retirement at 34