Jamaican-born product Jermaine Loewen has announced his retirement from professional hockey.
Born in Mandeville in 1998, Loewen was cast aside by his birthparents and placed in an orphanage at an early age. On a missions trip, Stan and Tara Loewen first met Jermaine at the age of three. They began the lengthy task of adoption, and by five years old, he made the move to their small town of Arborg, Manitoba.
It took a while, but he picked up hockey as a young teen.
Somehow, just four years into his playing career, the lanky forward was selected by the Kamloops Blazers in the third round of the Western Hockey League Draft.
And as they say, the rest is history.
A few years later, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound winger went 199th overall to the Dallas Stars in the NHL Draft, becoming the first ever player from Jamaica to hear his name called at the annual dispersal process.
For the kid who grew up idolizing Jarome Iginla, Loewen had himself quite the WHL career. He put up 64 goals and 110 points in his final two seasons of Junior hockey, earning his way to the captaincy in Kamloops.
From there he worked his way around the professional leagues, donning the colours of the Chicago Wolves, the Fort Wayne Komets, the Henderson Silver Knights, the Abbotsford Canucks and the Kalamazoo Red Wings as a member of both the American Hockey League and the ECHL.
Known well for his physicality, the former Interlake Lightning AAA star was never one to shy away from the fisticuffs. He retires with 711 total penalty minutes to his name between the WHL, ECHL and AHL.
Last year, Jermaine and his partner, Jenn, welcomed their first child. The couple have also announced their intentions to be married.
On Monday evening, Loewen announced his retirement from the game at the age of 27 via his social media accounts:
"After much reflection and time spent healing, I’ve made the difficult decision to retire from professional hockey.
This choice wasn’t easy, but it’s the best one for me and my family at this stage of my life.
I would like to send out a huge thank you to my family back in Arborg for your support, especially the early morning drives to the rink, which helped me work on the game I love so much. Thank you as well to all my friends and extended family who have stood by me through the highs and lows of my hockey journey. And of course, thank you to my coaches, trainers, and agent as I would not have been able to skate this journey without you all.
Throughout my career, I was truly lucky to play alongside and compete against some truly remarkable players.
I’m incredibly proud of the path I’ve taken—being drafted by the Kamloops Blazers and spending five memorable seasons with their incredible organization, to playing seven years of professional hockey, and making history as the first Jamaican-born player to be drafted into the NHL by the Dallas Stars.
I want to thank the fans for all the support throughout the years, without you we wouldn’t be able to play and do what we love!"