One of the greatest American-born players in the NHL has decided to hang up the skates after 18 years on the ice. Joe Pavelski was born in Plover, Wisconsin. Played college hockey in his home state at the University of Wisconsin. Pavelski was drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the 7th round of the 2003 NHL draft. Pavelski played for those great Sharks teams that seem to make the post-season every single season. Pavelski will go down as one of the best Sharks players of all-time. The last 5 seasons Pavelski has been suited up for the Dallas Stars. The playoffs is where Pavelski thrived turning into Mr. October in baseball words. He is known as Captain America as he was the leader of the U.SA squad in the Olympics and other world tournaments. The Star were eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in the conference finals and at the age of 39, Pavelski wants to skate off into the sunset and call it a career.

Joe Pavelski debuted with the San Jose Sharks in 2006 and played 13 seasons on the west coast. He did not want to walk away from the only franchise he knew that had drafted him. Sometimes in the sporting world, teams and players change directions as Pavelski got a nice deal to play for the Dallas Stars. Pavelski would play 5 seasons in Dallas. Pavelski was a 4X all-star and had 14 seasons where he at least scored 20 goals. In the playoffs he scored 74 goals, the most by an American player. He led Team U.S.A .to a silver medal in 2010 in the Olympics played in Vancouver. In 2016, he was captain of the U.S.A. team in the 2016 World Cup held in Toronto. Those international teams called him Captain America. In 2015, he was named the Captain of the Sharks. In 2016 post-season, Pavelski led the Sharks in goals with 14 in that 24 game playoff run that was cut short in game six in the Stanley Cup finals as they were beaten by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Only time the Sharks had made it that far. In 2020, Pavelski helped the Stars get to the Stanley Cup finals. Pavelski though would be 0-2 in the Stanley Cup finals as he’d go down as one of the best players never to win the big game.

Joe Pavelski at 39 years of age definitely has longevity as he played in all 82 regular season games for the Stars in regular season. This season was very productive as he scored 27 goals while dishing out 41 goals. In 19 games in the recent post-season, the Captain was not his normal self as he only tallied one goal with 3 assists. This was the same guy at the age of 34 that led the Sharks with 38 goals in the 2018-19 season. Last year in a Stars uniform, he had 4 goals against the Seattle Kraken. In 18 seasons, he has tallied 476 goals while dishing 592 assists in over a thousand games played. In Sharks history, he is second to only Patrick Marleau in goals scored with 355. He is 3rd all-time in points on the Sharks all-time list with 761. He’s 4th in assists with 406 and 3rd in games played with 963.

All those great players from those talented San Jose Sharks teams seem to be hanging up the spikes. Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, now Captain America. Joe Pavelski during his Sharks days was also nicknamed “Little Joe” playing with the bearded beast in Thornton. All these guys will have their number hanging one day in the rafters of the shark tank. All should be future NHL Hall of Famers as well. Pavelski is a true competitor that never stopped working on his craft. He would practice harder then anybody on the team. He looked deep into game situations and came up with ways to improve himself. If that happened to him, how would he make it better. Off the ice his wife and Joe took in rookie center last year for the Stars, Wyatt Johnston. The 21 year old center scored 32 goals being around Joe. He’s a team guy first. Great teammate and asset to any organization. It’s a shame he never won a cup as it seemed the Sharks were destined to get there at some point to win it all. I compare those great Sharks teams to how the Vegas Golden Knights have done since they came into the league as an expansion team. Golden Knights won a cup already. Pavelski is 6th in points and goals by American born players which is really very impressive. We know hockey is mostly Canadian players. Pavelski is high on the list of some very special talent made in America. Pavelski now will take his gold game to new heights and is a guy who will definitely be missed. Should go down as a type of guy you would want to build you team around, especially anybody who is called Captain America in his circles.