During the last lockout, forward Mike Knuble followed the path of many players and signed with a team in Europe. He scored 26 goals in 49 games for Linkopings in Sweden, never fully believing the NHL would miss an entire season because of a lockout.
He is not as naive this time around.
"Now everybody is aware that card has been played," Knuble said. "They're ready to play it again."
So it is with a giant dose of reality that Knuble prepares for the next phase of career -- most likely the final phase of his playing career. He is 40 years old and a free agent. He is preparing to play, but every day this lockout drags on is one day closer to the end.
And he's not alone.
To see which other players may be forced into retirement by the lockout, become an ESPN Insider today.
- Senior NHL writer for ESPN The Magazine
- Wrote for Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Wrote for The Sporting News
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Craig Custance
Craig Custance joined ESPN in September 2011 as an NHL reporter for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Insider and ESPN.com. A graduate of Michigan State University, he lived for nearly a decade in Georgia working for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he spent time covering the late Atlanta Thrashers. He was the only Thrashers beat writer to get the team to the playoffs.
From 2008-11 he was the national hockey writer for the Sporting News, writing regularly in print and online. A member of the PHWA, he's a proud voter for the major NHL awards and can occasionally defend his selections.
Like hockey, he left Atlanta to return north where he currently lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with his wife Cassie and their three kids.
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