“There were more reasons why I decided to end my career. But the main one was that I lost my appetite for hockey,” Polák told the club’s website.

“I don’t want it to sound bad, but hockey didn’t come back to me from my point of view and I didn’t give it what I gave it the whole time I played it,” he added.

The Poruba native returned to Vítkovice from abroad two years ago and is one of the key players for the Ostrava club. However, he had health issues in both seasons, which was another reason why he didn’t want to continue his active career.

“I think I’ve suffered a lot in my career and I don’t want to go through new pain again. I realized that hockey no longer satisfies me, as it used to,” repeated the experienced quarterback.

“I came to the conclusion that it was time to end it. Better now than breaking my knee. It would have been worse for me and my performances were no longer adequate,” he added.

The emphatic defender enters the NHL for St. Louis, Toronto, San Jose and Dallas. In that elite competition, he played 806 games in 14 seasons with a balance of 26 goals and 114 assists.

In the playoffs, he added four assists in 71 games. He started at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, 2016 World Cup and served twice at the World Cup.

In 2020, he decided to return home and agreed to team up with Vítkovice, whom he played with before leaving abroad.

“I was already thinking about the end of my career. The fact that I agreed with Vítkovice extended my career. I am happy that I was able to be here for two years and I thank Vítkovice for this opportunity. To be captain is an honor for me,” he said. is Polish.

He signed a three-year contract at Vítkovice following his arrival, but the club’s management complied with his request for an early termination without any problems.

“I believe that we will sit down in the future and after the so-called one-year vacation of Romanov, we will agree on some form of cooperation with us at the club.