Henrik Lundqvist says he is in 'good place' since retirement

It was an unfortunate ending to an outstanding career for Henrik Lundqvist, as the Swedish netminder was forced to announce his retirement this past August due to a heart condition.

Lundqvist, 39, has every right to be upset and bitter over the way his career ended. Instead, he is seeming to enjoy himself and the free time that comes with retirement.

"I feel good," Lundqvist said. "Off to a really good start back in New York with the kids back in school. I'm pretty active. Playing a little tennis, moving around. I can't push it 100 percent, and that will take some time before I can do that, but overall I feel really good with where I'm at right now. It was a hard decision to walk away, but at the same time I knew it was the right decision."

After the 2019-20 season, Lundqvist was bought out by the New York Rangers, the only NHL club he had ever played for, and then inked a one-year deal with the Washington Capitals. Unfortunately, a heart ailment prevented him from ever suiting up with the Caps, though despite having heart surgery he remained determined to return for a long period of time.

"Ever since my surgery I was coming back, that was my mindset, that was the goal," Lundqvist said. "Then, I had a big setback in March when I had the inflammation and that turned out to be a little trickier than the surgery almost, but I was still convinced that I was coming back. But then this summer it was realizing that it's going to take time before it's 100 percent and there's so much unknown and risks in trying. If I can't push close to 100 percent without feeling 100 percent, I realized the best decision right now is to walk away from it. And I'm at peace with that."

It is great to see Lundqvist has been able to keep a positive attitude in a very tough situation. Thankfully for him, no one will forget about him or his accomplishments for a very long time. In fact, the Rangers are set to retire his jersey No. 30 at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 28 this upcoming season. One can only imagine how loud the arena will be that night.

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