RomanesEuntDomus 442 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 (edited) The End Of The Road – David Collier Announces Retirement A career is coming to an end. In a move that wasn’t totally unexpected but still came as a shock to a lot of the fans, Cologne Express superstar David Collier announced his retirement last night. The current season, the 39th in VHL-history, will be the last for the German forward who is having a career year right now and who many thought would have enough left in the tank for at least another year of high-level hockey. “I want to finish while I am still an asset to my team, not a liability, and now just feels like the right time”, Collier said in his statement, “I have a family now so at this point in my life the priorities are shifting, changing to a non-playing role will allow me to spend more time with my wife and kids and I am really looking forward to that. Hockey will still play a big part in my life, be it as a player agent or maybe as a member of a front office or coaching staff at some point in the future. Right now I am still a player though, so I want to give absolutely everything while playing my last season and help the Express to keep working on the rebuild, which I expect to come to an end very soon.” Collier, the 10th overall pick in the Season 33 VHL Entry Draft, entered the league in season 34 after having spent two years in the VHLM playing for the Yukon Rush and the Kolari Panthers (now the Turku Outlaws). Collier never played a game for the team that drafted him, the Vasteras Iron Eagles, as he was traded to the Cologne Express just as he was about to enter the VHL. Since then he has spent his entire career in Cologne, where after struggling a bit early on, he established himself as a productive player along the likes of Kameron Taylor and Malcom Spud, and later as an offensive leader himself after these two had been traded. The big question now is if Collier will actually retire as a Cologne Express player, because recent rumors make it sounds like the veteran could be traded soon. While Cologne is getting closer to finishing the rebuild, the team isn’t in a position to compete yet this season so a retiring Collier is of little use to them, despite being second in league scoring right now. Most experts expect that Collier will be traded at the deadline to bring in some assets for the future. A bunch of teams have been rumored to be interested in his services with Calgary and Vasteras being the most likely destinations right now, even though the names of other teams like Seattle, Riga and Helsinki have been circulating as well. “I can’t really comment on these rumors, I’m just a player after all and not the team’s GM or anything like that”, Collier responded when asked about the trade-speculations. “But I’m not blind of course, I know the situation the team is in right now and I know that it might be better for the future of this team to acquire some younger assets for a retiring player, so I’m prepared for a trade. I would love to end my career here in Cologne and will forever be grateful for what this franchise did for me, but I know that right now it looks likely that I will go somewhere else at the deadline and if this happens, I will embrace the chance to go on a cup run someplace else to end my career.” Edited August 20, 2014 by RomanesEuntDomus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,831 Posted August 20, 2014 Admin Share Posted August 20, 2014 not the team’s GM or anything like that OK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotAVHLM-GM 1,858 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 It is true, the gm is Alexander Schneider or so right? Collier is just a pawn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RomanesEuntDomus 442 Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 And as always, Green is right NotAVHLM-GM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,831 Posted August 20, 2014 Admin Share Posted August 20, 2014 I never disagreed, never, me? Ironic statement? No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Da Trifecta 1,896 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Going to be fun career going up against a solid player. Can't wait to stop plenty of your goals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank 5,057 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Nice career! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Admin Will 4,660 Posted August 24, 2014 Senior Admin Share Posted August 24, 2014 Content: 3/3 Nice! Looks like a great career is coming to an end, but I expect Caprivi to be even better. Best of luck on your new player, and good riddens to Collier from a sim vs. Helsinki perspective. Grammar: 2/2 Good work! Appearance: 1/1 Looks good! Overall: 6/6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ball 453 Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Claimed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.png.ed69a7260a477fcf4feead7a0e4b7506.png)
Recommended Posts