Former Wing' Mathieu Dandenault retires

[Guest mindfly]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=335366

MONTREAL -- Mathieu Dandenault, who won three Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings and later played for the Montreal Canadiens, has retired from hockey.

Dandenault, 34, also played on the Canadian team that won a world championship in 2003 in Finland.

The Sherbrooke, Que., native last played in the NHL in 2008-09 with Montreal. Last season, he joined the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League, but was sidelined by a tear in his groin and opted to leave the team in March.

"A couple of teams invited me to camp but I said no," said Dandenault, who played both a forward and on defence. "I'm comfortable with my decision.

"It was a childhood dream to play in the NHL and having had the opportunity to play for two Original Six franchises made it even more special."

Dandenault, a second-round pick of Detroit in 1994, played 868 career NHL games and had 68 goals and 135 assists.

He played his first nine years in Detroit, where he won Cups in 1997, 1998 and 2002, and realized a dream by playing his final four years with the Canadiens. He will now begin play for the Canadiens' oldtimers team, he said.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

Good luck to him.

[ShanahanMan 473]

Lol, playing for the oldtimers team at 34. Yeesh.

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

From Montreal Gazette :

...

“When I was playing street hockey as a kid, my dream was to play for the Canadiens and win a Stanley Cup,” Dandenault said. “I won three Cups in Detroit and I played for the Canadiens. The only disappointment is that I didn’t win a Cup with Montreal. That would have been the ultimate dream.”

...

As I recall, he was one of the few failed experiments of Mr. William Scott Bowman.

[Konnan511 1,736]

In related news, I lost my fantasy football match-up today =/

[Booster313 138]

Dandy was a good guy and an alright defensman, think of him as a precursor to Lebda. The funny think about him retiring is that he still looks like he is 25 years old. Always had a baby face.

[tdinc 45]

best of luck Dandy....

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

I remember he was quite popular with the ladies when he was in Detroit.

He had a pretty decent career and I was actually a little bummed when he left Detroit. He was a good utility player for us that could play both forward and defense.

He was pretty solid in that 2002 Cup run, especially on that Larionov goal in triple OT.

[Kira 451]

I daresay that with three Stanley Cups on his resume, he's got nothing to hang his head about. Good luck and good journeys, Mathieu. You had a hell of a ride.

[Nev 1,085]

He was pretty solid in that 2002 Cup run,

Yep, him and Duchesne were excellent on the 3rd pairing. Definately his best play with Detroit.

[RusDRW 155]

I would say a lot of NHL-ers can only dream of the accomplishments Dandy had. Especially, considering the level of talent (or lack thereof) he had.

[VM1138 1,921]

I always liked him, but once he went East he fell off the radar for me. I only heard bits and pieces here and there about him. 34 seems too young to retire, but if his talent dropped off that bad what other choice did he have?

I remember him and Duchesne, liked both of them, though I was younger then and less critical so I might have rose-colored glasses on that score.

Good luck to you, Dandy.

[PROBIE4PREZ 58]

wow I cant believe he played that many games ... that sucks he could got to 1000 and no one would have known

[Guest mindfly]

[Third Man In 2,091]

He did very well for himself for someone the Wings didn't quite know what to do with. Kid had speed but he didn't quite know what to do with it. He's gonna tear up the old-timers circuit though

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

Something I always remember him doing is carrying his video camera during the Stanley Cup celebration at the end of all three games. I wish we could see his footage live as it happened.

[titanium2 867]

[Guest Crymson]

Something I always remember him doing is carrying his video camera during the Stanley Cup celebration at the end of all three games. I wish we could see his footage live as it happened.

It was Knuble in '97.

[liloz 0]

In 2002 my friends and I went to the Wings training camp in TC. One crazy night we ended up at a party that DMac, Maltby, Dandenault, Manny Legace and Tim Verbeek (Pats younger brother) were at. I ended up playing a game of euchre with Maltby, Dandy and Tim. Dandy and I were partners. We had the lead through most of the game until Kirk caught a loner and they beat us by 1 point.

Just thought I would share a Dandy memory.

Edited September 28, 2010 by liloz

[Offsides 21]

It's weird to see a name like Dandenault because it brings me back, but at the same time I had forgotten about him. I met the guy a couple times, at first he seemed nice, but by the end he seemed too cocky to me, but maybe I am wrong about that.