Dance The Night Away - No Retirement For Hedican

by Bob Wage on May 12, 2008 10:52 PM EDT

Ever since the Carolina Hurricanes disappointing season came to an abrupt ending, defenseman Bret Hedican has been busy supporting his wife, Kristi Yamaguchi as she competes in the "Dancing With The Stars" television show. Hedican has also done a bit of dancing himself whenever asked about his plans for next season.

Will he play again or not? Is he healthy enough to play?

After side-stepping those questions for weeks, it appears that StarTribune columnist, Neal Justin got some answers. During a recent interview with Yamaguchi and Hedican, Justin asked the defenseman about his future in professional hockey. Hedican's reply was as follows....

Right now my contract with Carolina is up. I'm leaving my doors open. I'm not locked in on going back and I'm not retiring. I'm just enjoying this with Kristi. ........

While that statement is a bit oddly worded, it does seem to say that he is not retiring. Apparently, the injuries that have plagued him all year long have dissipated?

I wonder if Bret will attempt to get a clean bill of health from the hip doctor like he did last year, before he can commit to play? In July of 2007, he had to go to physicians in Colorado for an opinion about his ailing hip. As it turned out, there was no definitive answer.

Then they decided to wait until training camp to see how the hip would hold up. As a matter of fact, it seemed as though the Canes were waiting all off-season and most of training camp just to see if Bret would be able to play or not. I'm not sure that the team has the patience or fortitude to go through that whole routine again this coming year.

It turned out that Hedican missed 16 games last year, and 22 games the year before, due to a variety of injuries.

But if there is anything to a rumor, Carolina won't have that worry anyway. Yamaguchi has mentioned more than once that she would like to move the family back to California. If Hedican indeed puts off retirement, he probably will take his gimpy hip and end up playing on the west coast.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Van Halen

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“If Hedican indeed puts off retirement, he probably will take his gimpy hip and end up playing on the west coast.”

I can’t help but cry with tears of joy at this news! And for some reason I can’t help but replay the opening credits of the Beverly Hillbillies, and see Bart, Krusty, and the rugrats rolling out the SUV, and heading to Beverly Hills! Later Bret, we won’t miss your sorry ass!

Sean

by CaniacSean on May 13, 2008 8:29 AM EDT reply actions

There was an interview this morning on one of the news channels with the Yamaguchi family in CA, and I think Kristi’s sister said that he was seriously mulling over retiring and moving back to the bay area. Either way, I think his time with the Canes is done.
I would like to see Wesley stay on either as a coach or player to mentor / tutor / coach the younger D. He is still pretty solid after playing for as long as he has. The D HAS TO get younger and tougher, though.

by marc on May 13, 2008 9:33 AM EDT reply actions

Well, here’s my dream scenario:
Wallin actually decides to take his skates to Europe. Wesley hangs ‘em up, becomes the defensive coach. Ron Francis or someone more qualified than McCarthy becomes powerplay coach. Bret Hedican returns to play for us. Why? With Wesley and Wallin gone (from the above scenario), and Gleason re-signed, Hedican can return to play with Gleason. They actually were an excellent pairing. If Bret will re-sign with us for under 1.5 Mil, then he’d be worth it….gimpy hip an all. Mr. plus 17!!!!!

by Ivy on May 13, 2008 10:55 AM EDT reply actions