After a year away from the game, spent unsuccessfully trying to recover from injury, it looks like the end of the road has come for Sami Salo. The former Canucks defenceman, and all-around fan favourite has retired at the age of 40 years old, according to a report from Finnish outlet Ilta-Sanomat.

Salo told the paper that the injury in question, one of many over the course of his career, was a wrist ailment suffered with the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2013/14 season. Doctors didn’t rule out the possibility of a comeback after surgery, but it things just didn’t work out.

The native of Turku, Finland joined Vancouver in September of 2002 via a one-for-one trade with the Ottawa Senators. Headed back the other way was Peter Schaefer, who strung together a few decent seasons with the Senators and Bruins before finishing his career with a 16 game farewell tour with the Canucks. 

Meanwhile, Salo became a pivotal part of the Canucks’ defensive core for the better part of a decade. In nine seasons with the team, he put up a minimum of 25 points in eight of them while remaining an incredibly steady defensive presence. He rarely shied away from the physical elements of the game, but stayed very responsible, never taking more than 38 penalty minutes in a single season.

Unfortunately, injuries have always plagued Salo. During his time with the Canucks, he found a way to bang up just about every part of his body, missing time due to injuries to his eyes, ribs, legs, knees, back, shoulder, groin, Achilles, and pretty much everything else you can think of. Between 2005-06 and 2011-12, Salo missed a minimum of 12 games in every season he participated in, and played just 27 regular season games in 2011.

Salo left the Canucks organization as a free agent following the 2011/12 season, but not before putting himself in the top five in powerplay, game winning, and total goals, points, shots, and playoff games participated in. Salo finished his career by playing 117 additional games with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Now that he no longer has hockey to play, he’ll be returning to Florida while his first born daughter attends the University of Vermont.