Max Talbot has retired from professional hockey, Pierre LeBrun wrote on Thursday.
Max Talbot has called it quits on his playing career and is joining CAA Hockey in player development. He played in Omsk this past season in the KHL. Stanley Cup hero with Pittsburgh in 2009
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 20, 2019
CAA (Creative Artists Agency) Hockey is an agency that represents many players around the NHL, including Penguins Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jack Johnson. Other notable clients include Jonathan Toews, Anze Kopitar, John Tavares and Nathan MacKinnon.
The agency is led by Pat Brisson and JP Barry. CAA Hockey's website has this to say about its' player development staff:
"We have staff dedicated to working with our younger players and their families, both as advisors and agents, to implement individual development strategies. Our approach is holistic: we advise and assist with training, skills development, nutrition and mental preparation, and we educate families on their options and the best path to success, no matter the desired outcome.
"The cornerstones of our development group are the annual CAA Hockey Summer Camps, where invited players experience an intense and in-depth week of on- and off-ice training that focuses on all aspects of their development and preparation. They leave with new friendships and a sharpened hockey sense, ready to take on the upcoming season."
Talbot played a total of 704 games in his 11-year NHL career with the Penguins, Flyers, Avalanche and Bruins. He scored 91 goals and 113 assists in his career. More than half of his career was spent with the Penguins, where he scored 52 goals and 56 assists in 388 games over six seasons.
Talbot's most notable moments, of course, came during the 2009 playoffs. His "shhhh" of the Flyers crowd after a fight with Dan Carcillo in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals is one of the most memorable moments from not only that series, but the rivalry between the two teams:
Talbot was the unlikely hero in Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final that June, scoring both goals in a 2-1 win against the Red Wings as the Penguins captured their third Stanley Cup, and the first of the Sidney Crosby era:
Talbot left the NHL after the 2015-16 season, which he split between Boston and the Providence Bruins of the AHL. He played for the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL for two seasons before moving to the Avangard Omsk last season. He scored 27 goals and 38 assists in 145 career KHL games.
