Junior hockey player says ‘too many punches, too many concussions’ forcing him to retire

globalnews.ca:

A post shared by Lane Hinkley (@itslanehinkley)“Even though this is the end,” he added, “it’s not how I would like to be remembered by my peers and anyone who watched me play.”Hinkley said he is grateful to his teammates, who he described as a “big family” who were his “favourite part of coming to the rink every day.”He said whenever he played in Sydney, N.S., “it was like a homecoming” and thanked his supporters.“I will never forget my first game in Centre 200, looking up in the crowd and seeing a little boy with a Hinkley jersey on,” he wrote. “A big 77 on the back, a big smile on his face.

That is one of my proudest moments, and I’ll never forget it.”Hinkley said that despite his health problems, he wouldn’t change a thing.“I will never regret a single hit or punch that I ever threw. I will never apologize for the way I played,” he wrote.

“I didn’t score many goals towards the end, but I was a tough motherf–er and nobody can take that away from me. I wear these scars on my hands proudly.”On Monday, defensemen Lane Hinkley announced his retirement from hockey due to medical reasons.