New Jersey Devils: Ben Lovejoy announces his retirement
Defenseman Ben Lovejoy has announced his retirement from the NHL. He played for various teams, including the New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins.
NHL careers, unfortunately, don’t last forever. Conn Smythe and Stanley Cup winning Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward wasn’t the only notable retirement to come out of the world on Wednesday night. Veteran defenseman Ben Lovejoy, formerly of the New Jersey Devils, announced he would be hanging up the skates as well.
Yes, the Reverend, as he was affectionately called after The Simpsons character he shares a name with, channeled his inner Steve Carell for the humorous send-off. While his 11-year tenure might not yield eye-popping stats, the defender has put together a career he could be proud of.
After initially going undrafted, Lovejoy was a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins 2016 Stanley Cup championship team. Following an initial announcement on an NHL network broadcast, Lovejoy took the news to Twitter.
— ben lovejoy (@RevLovejoy6) August 29, 2019
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Lovejoy is happy with his career, but also was open with the physical toll it took on his body:
Although he had a successful career with the Penguins from 2008 and culminating with a cup win, Lovejoy left Pittsburgh to sign as a free agent with the Devils. In between his first years and cup championship with the Penguins, Lovejoy had a short stint with the Anaheim Ducks, before being traded back to his original team.
The move reunited him with former Penguins general manager Ray Shero. Prior to the 2019 trade deadline, Lovejoy was sent down South to join the Dallas Stars in their quest to the playoffs.
His final NHL game would be the Stars game seven loss in the Western Conference semi-final at the hands of the St. Louis Blues.
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Lovejoy hasn’t said what he plans to do after retirement, but his appearance as a guest analyst on NHL Network suggests he can’t stay away from the sport for long. Lovejoy previously made headlines for saying he would donate his brain to concussion research, the first NHL player to do so. And the chapter has closed on another NHL career.