Longtime NHL defenseman Erik Johnson, who spent most of his career with the Colorado Avalanche and won a Stanley Cup championship with the club in 2022, announced his retirement Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The 37-year-old native of Bloomington, Minn., played in 14 of his 17 seasons with the Avalanche and is second in Quebec\/Colorado franchise history to Adam Foote with 731 games played by a defenseman. Johnson served as a big-minute, all-situations defender for the Avs in his mid-to-late 20s and successfully transitioned to a lesser role during Cale Makar\u2019s ascent as the franchise\u2019s No. 1 blueliner.<\/p>\n
As the No. 1 pick in the 2006 NHL Draft by St. Louis, Johnson played his first two full seasons with the Blues. He missed the entire 2008-09 season after tearing multiple knee ligaments in a golf cart accident, but made a full recovery the following season, playing in all but three games. Johnson\u2019s career was altered in 2011 when St. Louis traded him to Colorado for Kevin Shattenkirk and Chris Stewart.<\/p>\n
Johnson finished his career with 1,023 games played, as he also dressed for the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers in recent seasons. The Avs and Johnson rekindled their relationship last March when he was acquired from the Flyers for forward Givani Smith.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter 18 incredible years in the NHL, I am retiring with a heart full of gratitude,\u201d Johnson said in a statement. \u201cTo the St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers and most of all the Colorado Avalanche: thank you for the opportunities and memories, especially the 2022 Stanley Cup. To my teammates, coaches, and staff: your support, camaraderie, and dedication shaped my career. To the fans: your passion made every moment unforgettable. To my family and friends: your unconditional love and support carried me through. Hockey has been my life, and I\u2019m grateful for every second.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited for what\u2019s next and will always cherish this journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson is one of two American-born defensemen to be a No. 1 draft choice. He won a silver medal with Team USA at the 2010 Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n
(Photo of Erik Johnson hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2022: Bruce Bennett \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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Oct 1, 2025<\/p>\n
Connections: Sports Edition<\/p>\n
Spot the pattern. Connect the terms<\/p>\n
Find the hidden link between sports terms<\/p>\n
Play today’s puzzle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Longtime NHL defenseman Erik Johnson, who spent most of his career with the Colorado Avalanche and won a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[1809,1223,385,1789,99,1610],"class_list":["post-195516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-buffalo-sabres","tag-colorado-avalanche","tag-nhl","tag-philadelphia-flyers","tag-sports","tag-st-louis-blues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}