Krejci: 'I Left Everything I Had Out There'

BostonBruins.com- For David Krejci, it's time to relax a bit.

After 16 grueling seasons in the National Hockey League, all with the Boston Bruins, the 37-year-old is looking forward to, well, some downtime.

"I don't want to do anything right now, to be honest," Krejci said with a bit of a smirk as he spoke during a virtual press conference on Tuesday morning from his home in South Carolina.

Krejci, who announced his retirement from the NHL on Monday, was answering a question regarding his interest in coaching or scouting now that his playing days are done, while noting that both options are off the table for the time being as he gets set to enjoy time with his family - and give his body a well-deserved rest.

"My body's not ready to play the whole season, especially at the speed and level the NHL is," said Krejci. "I just felt I gave it my all through some injuries last year and I left everything I had out there at the end. I know if I will come back to NHL, I will definitely not be the same player as I was last year."

The longtime centerman returned to the Bruins for the 2022-23 campaign after taking a season away to play in his native Czechia and put forth a strong showing in his familiar spot as the club's No. 2 pivot. In 70 games, Krejci registered 56 points (16 goals, 40 assists) and helped provide a spark to a team that went on to set the NHL record for regular-season victories with 65.

"Going into the season, I didn't know what to kind of expect, I didn't think it was going to be my last season or if I'll keep going after that," said Krejci, who played in his 1,000th career game, becoming the seventh Bruin to accomplish that feat. "It just kind of played it out the way it did. Coming back, really enjoying the year, having the year we had [but] being away from family, that was hard.

"Everything kind of went together, injuries and missing the family. So, I think I made the best decision to step away from the NHL."

That decision started to take shape towards the end of the season when Krejci's body began to betray him and forced him to miss three of Boston's seven games against the Florida Panthers in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Following, the Bruins' shocking elimination, Krejci knew that it was likely time to step away.

"The decision was made, I would say, when my injuries started to happen at the end of the season, but I didn't want to rush with my decision," said Krejci, who finishes his career fifth in club history in games played (1,032), fifth in assists (555), ninth in points (986), second in playoff scoring (128 points), and third in postseason games played (160). "I really wanted to take my time and really think things over because you don't want to make decisions when the emotions go through. So, I really wanted to take my time and wait for the right time, for the right moment.

"I just realized there's never a right time or right moment to retire from NHL, but I felt like it was time. I knew my body couldn't take any 82 games anymore, and that was the decision."

Krejci has not, however, completely closed the door on taking the ice again at a high level, saying that he will re-assess around Christmas whether or not he'd like to represent Czechia at the 2024 World Championships next spring in Prague.

"I retired from NHL because I know my body can't take the whole season. I have things that I would have to get done, which would involve surgery. And at my age, I'm not ready to do that. I don't want to do that anymore," said Krejci. "But this year, the World Championship is in Prague, in my hometown…I never played there. So, that's something…it's just kind of in the back of my head.

"But at the same time, I'm going to be with my family here and celebrate Christmas here. And if at some point after Christmas I feel like, 'let's get ready,' play a couple months somewhere in Europe, get ready for the World Championship, get it done in two weeks, come back home…that's something I'm thinking about.

"I'm definitely not going to play anywhere the whole year. If I decide to keep going, it will be definitely after New Year's. But we'll see what happens."

For now, Krejci is eager to enjoy the company of his wife, Naomi, and children Elina and Everett, while also keeping the competitive juices flowing as he shores up his skills on the golf course and tennis court.

"I do enjoy my golf. I haven't played as much as I would like to this summer, for some reason it's been really busy. But once the school starts, when the kids go to school, then I'm going to have more time, try to get better at it," said Krejci. "I also enjoy tennis. I have played since I was a kid, I played in the summer. So, I'm going to pick that up again.

"And there's lots of leagues down here [in South Carolina], so I'm going to try to get in there. It's not really that competitive, but you still play for something. So, I think that's what I'd love to stick with for now."

Krejci will almost certainly be keeping tabs on the Black & Gold, as well. With him and Patrice Bergeron both hanging up the skates this summer, the Bruins' dressing room will be lacking 35 combined seasons of NHL experience. Krejci, however, is not concerned, saying that he has the utmost faith in the likes of Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, David Pastrnak, and Charlie Coyle to carry on the culture that has been built across the last two decades.

"There's so many good players, so many good leaders in the dressing room, so I'm not worried about the leadership in the room at all," said Krejci. "Along the way, I understood what it takes to be a Bruin, what it means to put on the jersey. And I tried to do it with pride. The older I [got], just tried to lead by example, just being myself, being respectful to the culture of the Bruins, and tried to carry it on.

"Now you see the young guys coming in and the older guys kind of teaching them the ropes. And now they got it. Pasta got it, Chuck, all those younger guys - they understand what it what it means to wear that jersey and there's no doubt in my mind that they'll be great leaders."

Krejci is also confident that they'll continue to have plenty of success on the ice.

"It's going to be fun watching them," said Krejci. "It's going to be fun now seeing the young kids grow up into big leaders. I really hope they're going to get [a championship] and get it done soon, so when I still have friends on the team, I can get invited to a Cup day or something."

It's those friends - and his own championship in 2011, of course - that Krejci made clear he'll miss the most.

"Winning the Stanley Cup was a dream, even as a kid, and I was fortunate enough to do that…we had a couple of chances, especially 2019 - it would be nice to have at least two, but it's really hard to win that trophy," said Krejci. "But the best memories you create, in the dressing room, on the road, and just being around the guys. And fortunately, for me, I was on the team with such great guys and for such a long time, Marchy, Bergy, Tuukka [Rask], Pasta, Torey Krug, Looch [Milan Lucic].

"I don't want to forget some names, but all those guys are some of my closest friends, and we share so many good memories. I'm definitely going to miss those. I'm going to miss them all, but we're still friends, really good friends. We talk to each other all the time, so I'm sure we'll see each other a bunch in the future."

The memories are indeed endless and now it's time for him to take a step back and appreciate all he was able to accomplish across nearly two decades with the Bruins organization.

"Retirement's kind of taking it over, and I'm trying to look back at my whole career, trying to understand all those things that I've accomplished and how hard it was to do that," Krejci said when asked about the disappointment of his final season ending in such shocking fashion. "The sacrifice everybody made for me to be able to chase my dreams and things like that. So, I'm trying to really kind of go down the memory lane and appreciate all those little things and not really think about the last year."

Instead, Krejci is choosing to focus on what a privilege it was to spend his entire NHL career donning the Spoked-B.

"I don't think it's sunk in what an accomplishment that actually is," said Krejci. "I guess I'll realize that later…but I do take pride in playing 1,000 games for the Bruins organization for this many years. You've got to be lucky, you've got to be healthy, there's just so many things going into playing 1,000 games.

"The Bruins kept believing in me, they kept bringing me back, they kept offering me contracts, and I just can't thank them enough that I was able to come back and play 1,000 games for one franchise.

"I just wanted to play the best I could to represent myself, my family, the City of Boston, and the Bruins organization the best I could. And I think for the most part, I've done that."