Former Âé¶čAV Rockets forward and longtime NHL veteran is hanging up the blades.
Fiddler, who played four seasons in the WHL, this week announced his retirement after 14 seasons in the NHL.
During his pro career, Fiddler played in 877 games with the Nashville Predators, Phoenix Coyotes, Dallas Stars, and New Jersey Devils. The Edmonton native collected 104 goals and 157 assists for 261 points along with 558 career penalty minutes.
Before Fiddler made his ascent to the NHL, he played 267 games in the Western Hockey League.
Two hundred of those were spent in Âé¶čAV playing for the Rockets. From the 1997-1998 season until the beginning of the 2000-2001 season, Fiddler was a key cog on the Rockets roster.
âMy whole family pushed me to follow my goal of becoming a professional hockey player,â Fiddler wrote on the âTheir persistence helped get me to a tryout with the Âé¶čAV Rockets in 1997. I hadnât been drafted, and I hadnât been heavily recruitedâI was just invited to be an extra body at training camp. But I wound up making the team.
Fiddler collected 85 goals and 185 points during his WHL career, including 52 goals and 114 points with Âé¶čAV.
âBruce, Gavin and Annie Hamilton ran that team, and Peter Anholt was the coach,â he continued. âMy career wouldnât be the same without those four people. They took a chance on me.â
Fiddler won the Calder Cup in the AHL in 2004 with the Milwaukee Admirals.
In his final NHL season he helped the Nashville Predators all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in their franchise history.
Vernon Fiddler has announced his retirement from the . 37-year old tallied 261 points in 877 career games with 4 teams.
â UNB! Sports Stats (@unbstats)
