NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 02: Ryan Callahan #24 of the New York Rangers looks on during a face-off against the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden on March 2, 2014 in New York City. The Boston Bruins won 6-3. (Photo by Rebecca Taylor/NHLI via Getty Images)

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Former New York Rangers captain Ryan Callahan is being forced to retire due to a degenerative back injury. The 34-year old Callahan was a Ranger for almost eight years before he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2014.

Although he has not been with the team for over five years, fans of the New York Rangers remember Ryan Callahan fondly. He was an overachiever who gave his all in every game. The Rochester native was drafted by the Rangers, came up through the organization and ultimately was named captain in 2011, succeeding Chris Drury.

Traded to Tampa in 2014, Callahan has been injury prone, missing 109 games over the last three years. Suffering back pain, it was determined that he has a degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine and he was placed on long-term injury reserve and is not expected to play again. The announcement was made by Tampa Bay Lightning GM Julian Brisebois.

Callahan reaffirmed that if it wasn’t for his back he would still be playing, in an interview on the Lightning website:

“If it wasn’t for my back, I’d be playing next year…I feel good. My body feels really good other than my back, especially at the end of the year there the way I played when I came in. Mentally, physically, I felt great other than my back. If it wasn’t for that, I definitely would have been playing next year and to be honest with you hopefully a couple years after that. I still love the game, still love playing. And the biggest thing is I want to win a championship. I think that’s the hardest thing now is realizing that dream or that chance is probably gone. It’s not the way you want to go out, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to look at your family, your life after hockey too. It seems like this has to be done. It’s unfortunate for sure.”

Callahan will never see his dream of winning the Stanley Cup. He came closest in 2015 when the Lightning made it to the Finals, but lost to Chicago. Callahan was one of the key players for Tampa when they defeated the Rangers in seven games in the Conference Finals.

The big trade

At the trade deadline in 2014, with Callahan facing unrestricted free agency, Glen Sather traded the Rangers captain for the Lightning captain, Martin St. Louis. It was a massive deal that would affect the Blueshirts for years. Besides Callahan, the Rangers gave up two first round draft picks and a seventh round pick, receiving St. Louis and a second round pick.

With St. Louis, the Rangers unexpectedly made a run to the Stanley Cup Finals. They lost to the Los Angeles Kings in five games and though St. Louis was an inspiration that spring, his play deteriorated rapidly after that and he retired within a year.

Callahan was rewarded with a six-year $34.8 million contract in the summer of 2014. That rich contract contributed to Tampa’s cap issues and ironically, by going on longterm injured reserve, it will help the team.

Although gone for a number of years, Ryan Callahan was a great Ranger and an inspiration to his teammates and a fan favorite. All will wish him well in his recovery and wherever his next career will take him.