Blues' Keith Tkachuk announces retirement

Hockey Betting Lines

04/07/2010 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Blues veteran forward Keith Tkachuk announced on Wednesday his plans to retire at the end of the season.

"I have been privileged to have a long career in this terrific league and play for first class organizations," said Tkachuk. "My thanks go out to my current and former teammates, the St. Louis Blues, Phoenix Coyotes, Winnipeg Jets and Atlanta Thrashers organizations and most of all to my parents, my wife Chantal, my kids Matthew, Braeden and Taryn along with all of my other family members for all of the support they have given me throughout my career."

The 38-year-old has played 19 NHL seasons and 1,200 regular season games. He has racked up 538 goals and 525 assists and an additional 56 points in 89 playoff games. He has also been a part of four U.S. Olympic teams and collected a silver medal in 2002.

He will play his final home game on Friday against Anaheim after sitting out Wednesday's contest against Chicago with a lower body injury.

Tkachuk was drafted by the Jets in the first round -- 19th overall -- of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft.

"Keith is a true warrior who had an excellent career and I was hoping this day would never come," said Blues president of hockey operations John Davidson. "The NHL is losing an individual who gave a lot of time and dedication to the game and I wish him and his family a happy retirement and the best of luck."

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.