International Hockey Roundtable
Oscar Klefbom finally announces retirement
© Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports - Oscar Klefbom finally announces retirementHe hasn’t played a competitive hockey game in four years and his NHL contract with the Edmonton Oilers expired last summer, but it’s taken until now for 31-year-old Oscar Klefbom to finally say it’s over.
“It is what it is. I wasn’t quite ready to say I was done playing hockey. But now I can finally say it’s over,” Klefbom said in an interview that has been published by several Swedish media agencies, including Värmlands Folkblad and Wermlands-Tidningen.
“That was a choice I made,” he said about his silence. “I told the Oilers that I wanted to lay very low with what was going to happen and what the situation is, and they were perfectly fine with that. From my side, it was also because it was so difficult to talk about it.”
Edmonton chose Klefbom 19th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. After that he played two more seasons with Swedish club Färjestad, and it was during that time when he suffered a shoulder injury that plagued him the rest of his career. As it is, he played 378 regular-season NHL games, recording 156 points and 74 penalty minutes. He played 16 more playoff games, recording seven points.
Klefbom’s last NHL hockey was in August 2020 in the play-in round of the post-season that was created as a result of the Covid pandemic. In the Edmonton bubble, Klefbom played all four of the Oilers’ games against the Chicago Blackhawks in a losing cause, despite the risk to his health.
“In the NHL, the level of competition is just so high, which you know about,” he told journalists. “And so they kept sending Klefbom out there until he just couldn’t go any further because we were trying to go to the playoffs. And the shoulder and the rest of the body suffered because of that.”
However, he added, “I am very happy with my career. I’m just grateful that I got the chance to play as many games as I did, even though it was with an injury. There are really two sides to the coin because, although I am grateful, I would have liked to be here today. On the ice. As a player.”
Watching Färjestad players practise in Karlstad, he said, “I’m 31 years old and I still have that itch. I should still have a few years left in me. My body still feels ready to go out there and hammer Joel Eriksson Ek in the corner. I don’t feel ready to sit at home in a rocking chair and enjoy retired life.”
However, as good as his prosthetic shoulder feels, he knows it wouldn't stand up to the rigors of pro hockey.
“It's pain-free, but it's just so damn weak,” he said. “It's difficult to rebuild. I've had five or six operations. I'm partly made of titanium now and I'm half 'Robocop', so it will probably take me a while to get some strength and everything. But now I have all the time in the world for that.”
The itch is especially hard to ignore when watching hockey, especially the Oilers playoff run this spring.
“On one hand, I would be risking not being able to lift my children and enjoy life after hockey,” he said. “On the other hand, I almost want to risk everything, because being on the ice is the most fun I know. Especially in Edmonton where I felt what was going on.”
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