San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture has officially retired from hockey due to a deep groin injury called Osteoitis Pubis.
“My career of playing hockey has come to an end. I’m not physically able to play anymore. It’s tough. It sucks, but it is what it is,” Couture said. “I loved and cherished every single moment that I got to play in this league. The NHL is everything that I thought it would be when I was a kid.”
One of the all-time best to wear Teal. Thank you, Cooch! 👏— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 15, 2025
The Sharks’ captain has been limited to just six games over the past two seasons. Despite his best efforts to return, Couture has hung up his skates. His last game was on Jan. 31, 2024, against the Anaheim Ducks.
“I don’t think it was a day that was finalized. That last game I played in Anaheim, I was in a ton of pain, and I took a second at the end of the game to look around, just in case,” Couture said. “I guess it’s been in my mind that there was a chance that that could have been it since that game.”
Couture played 933 games for the San Jose Sharks, which ranks 5th all-time. He was a constant clutch performer in the playoffs and was named captain in 2019.
The Cap.
Clutchure.
Cooch.
There's only one Logan Couture. 🦈 pic.twitter.com/ypIm7KHdaX— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 15, 2025
“This summer, I focused on training and rehab and working as hard as I possibly could, but I just could never get close. [I would have] two good days, and then be sore and have to stop for a few days, and I never got close to getting back on the ice since that last game in January of last year,” Couture said. “I think a few months of really grinding through some rehab this September, October, and November was hard on my body.”
Couture has remained part of the Sharks team. GM Mike Grier has told reporters throughout the season that he would be in the locker room and part of discussions with the front office.
“You were the guy the coaches wanted out there, the constant pro and leader, both on and off the ice,” Grier said. “[Couture] led by example, through his work ethic, competitiveness, compassion, commitment, and in the way you played the game. You always did everything the right way.”
Logan Couture didn’t forget his Sharks teammates
The San Jose Sharks captain thanked everyone who impacted his career, from his family, friends, coaches, and lastly, his teammates.
Couture with some thank yous pic.twitter.com/RfzEFhlhlC— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) April 15, 2025
“When I came into this league, I didn’t realize how many guys I was going to play with. You never realize that you’re going to play with so many people from so many different cultures and countries. That’s been the most fun for me,” Couture said. “I was so lucky that when I first broke in the league, I had some of the greatest role models that you can find in this game.”
Sharks legends Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau were in attendance for Couture’s announcemnt.
“I think he probably took a little bit of everything from from each one of us. When you do something like that, you’re able to be a great leader, and he definitely was one of them,” Marleau said. “The skill and everything like that showed up right away. The leadership, I think, started to come later. But it was even the way he handled himself professionally. I think that through his actions, he was already a leader. Then on top of that, later on, talking to guys. Having gone through it, sharing his experiences, I think he was really good at that.”
16 years in Teal. Thank you for the memories and congrats on a great career, Logan! pic.twitter.com/x8WZIuEBMP— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 15, 2025
Sharks treated Logan Couture beautifully through this process
Going through the rehab process for the past two seasons is understandably mentally challenging. Couture said he couldn’t thank the San Jose Sharks organization more for staying patient with him.
“They gave me a chance to do whatever I thought I could possibly do, enough to come back and play. I went and saw a number of specialists. Specialists on the West Coast, specialists on the east coast,” Couture said. “I’m grateful for the Sharks for giving me the time and the space and the effort to see if we can make it work. It means a lot to me.”
“I just hope that I'm remembered as a player that worked extremely hard, and someone that would do anything to win.” #SJSharks captain Logan Couture.— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) April 15, 2025
President of the Sharks Jonathan Becher held a brief media scrum following the event and spoke on how the organization handled this process.
“I think that comes from the top. That’s part of who Hasso [Plattner] is as a human being. Yeah, we all want to win. Yes, ultimately, there is that prize at the end of the day, but how you run an organization, the people you put in it, how you treat them,” Becher said. “You see our senior players picking up the junior players when they get off planes. Our young [players] living with some of our alumni. That just speaks to who we want to be. I suspect Logan is going to carry on that tradition.”
Couture’s career came to an end abruptly and not by his choice. The Sharks captain gave everything he had to this organization and the way they treated him back showed a true respect for one another.
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