Former NHLer, 1st-round pick retires; 'hockey had become unenjoyable for me'
Peter Holland, a first round draft pick (15th overall) of the Anaheim Ducks in 2009, says he's leaving the game of hockey as he no longer enjoys playing the sport. The 31-year-old, who played in the SHL with Djurgarden this season after spending the last two in the KHL, released a lengthy message on Twitter explaining why he's retiring.
"I'm not sure if a Twitter thread is an appropriate forum to announce this but when you were a bubble guy, there's no press conference, banner raising, or puck drop at centre ice. So here it is: It's strange to think that something which has been a part of me since before I can remember will no longer be a part of my future. This was not an easy decision, but in order to be honest with myself, it was time to confront the reality that hockey had become unenjoyable for me. I was no longer committed to getting better and therefore I was getting worse. It was an unsustainable trajectory not only for my career but also for my mental health, and therefore it was better to stop altogether."
Holland went on to explain that his passion for the sport dropped greatly when he was traded away from his hometown team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, to the Arizona Coyotes in 2016.
Holland added he always tried his best and cared deeply about whatever team he was suiting up for.
Holland played a total of 266 games in the NHL with Anaheim, Toronto, Arizona and the New York Rangers. Most of it was with the Maple Leafs. However, after signing a one-year extension with Toronto for the 2016-17 season, Holland saw his ice-time drop considerably as names like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Connor Brown came on the scene. Once Toronto traded him to Arizona, it seemed he could never find his footing in the NHL again, suiting up in the AHL mostly for the next couple of years. He signed with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg of the KHL in 2019, and spent two seasons there before moving to Sweden.
You can view Holland's full thread on Twitter by clicking on the Tweet below.
raising, or puck drop at centre ice. 😂
So here it is:
It's strange to think that something which has been a part of me since before I can remember will no longer be a part of my future. This was not an easy decision, but in order to be honest with myself, it was time to
2/18— Peter Holland (@PeterHolland13) March 16, 2022
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Taylor Hall | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Brayden Point | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Brock Nelson | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Bryan Rust | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Pavel Zacha | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Quinn Hughes | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Carter Verhaeghe | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Erik Karlsson | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Elias Lindholm | - | 3 | 3 | |
| David Pastrnak | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Tim Stutzle | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Adam Gaudette | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Dylan Holloway | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Brad Marchand | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Aleksander Barkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sam Bennett | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sean Couturier | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex DeBrincat | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack Drury | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Cutter Gauthier | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 23 | 18 | 5 | - | 36 | |
Hurricanes | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 33 | |
Wild | 22 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 32 | |
Devils | 25 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 32 | |
Capitals | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 31 | |
Golden Knights | 23 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 31 | |
Maple Leafs | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Flames | 23 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 28 | |
Panthers | 23 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 27 | |
Kings | 23 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 27 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||