Cullen calls it a career

Veteran enjoyed 21 seasons in NHL

Matt Cullen was happy to retire, but the previous season nagged at him. As much as he enjoyed playing in 2017- 18 for the Wild in his home state of Minnesota, the hockey aspect didn’t quite work.

He hoped for another chance, but it didn’t look like it would come in Pittsburgh.

“The day before Jim [ Rutherford] called, Pittsburgh had signed maybe their 12th forward, so it was looking to me like that door had closed,” Cullen said. “I thought, OK, well, this is probably going to be the end.”

Then Rutherford, the Penguins general manager, reached out. In 2018- 19, Cullen had a final season befitting his career. This summer, he was ready, and the 42- year- old center announced his retirement Wednesday.

“This year I had a stronger feeling that it was the right thing to do,” Cullen said by phone. “It was pretty clear to me where, in past years, it hasn’t been as clear and I kept the door open to potentially returning. This time I just felt like it was the right time.”

Cullen won three Stanley Cups, two of them with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017, in his 21- year career, in which he scored 266 goals with 465 assists in 1,516 career games. In 71 games with the Penguins this past season, he scored seven goals with 13 assists and was plus- six

while averaging 11: 31 of ice time.

“He’s the one player that won all three Cups at the same time as I did,” Rutherford said by phone. “From a personal point of view, I think the world of him. I think he’s had a great career and he’s a great hockey guy.”

Cullen debuted with Anaheim a year after they took him in the second round out of St. Cloud State in 1996. He played for the Mighty Ducks, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, the Wild and the Nashville Predators in addition to the Penguins.

After the 2004- 05 lockout, he had two options for 200506: the Wild, who offered more money, or Rutherford’s Hurricanes.

“He was always the type of player that we were looking for, such a character guy, leadership, good twoway player,” Rutherford said.

Cullen’s former agent, Mike Gillis, educated him on the importance of finding a fit. Cullen had a relationship with Carolina coach Peter Laviolette, who coached Cullen the previous year in the world cup. He chose the Hurricanes.

“It … would give me an opportunity to see how good I can be, because at that point I didn’t really know if I was going to stick in the NHL or not,” Cullen said. “To get an opportunity to be relied on and viewed as an impact player on the team, that was a huge opportunity for me.”

The Hurricanes outlasted the Buffalo Sabres in a seven- game Eastern Conference final and again

went seven games while beating the Edmonton Oilers to win the Stanley Cup in 2006. Cullen scored a careerhigh 25 goals with 24 assists in 78 games.

“That was the year that really established me personally and really started, essentially, my career again,” he said.

After three years with the Wild and two more in Nashville, more than a month of free agency passed before Rutherford, now the Penguins’ general manager, called again in 2015.

“It was a time when I really believed I was probably done playing,” Cullen said. “I just kind of looked at it as a super unique opportunity with young kids to go play one more year in a great hockey market with some of the biggest names in hockey and with a general manager that I really trusted and respected and had a great relationship with. It was something that seemed like it was too good to pass up.”

The two seasons he spent in Pittsburgh resulted in consecutive championships. The hockey spoke for itself, but he also loved the

off- ice experience, especially the chance for his three boys to spend time with his teammates.

“It all just seemed to be a perfect match, I think,” he said. “I know from my perspective, it was. My family, those were some of the best years we’ve had as a family. The kids were at a fun age and they just soaked everything in and got to experience so many things.

“As a family, being in a place where they just accept you as their own, it was a really special experience.”

After one more year in Minnesota — “The hockey wasn’t a good fit, to be real honest,” Cullen said, though he liked the organization and the home life — he finished things off with a final season in Pittsburgh.

“I was just so happy to have sort of a second chance at finishing my career in a way, and to finish it where I really should finish it, in Pittsburgh,” he said.

Cullen will take some time, but said he will probably return to hockey in some capacity. It’s hard for him to imagine life without it.