Yzerman retired with the additional distinction of having been the longest-serving team captain in NHL history. Nicklas Lidstrom, the former captain of the Wings

On Thursday, May 31, 2012, Nicklas Lidström retired after his 20th consecutive NHL season, and 6th year as captain of the Detroit Red Wings.

The NHL retired his jersey number 99 league-wide, making him the only player to receive this honour.

In addition, Gretzky's jersey number 99 was retired league-wide at the 2000 NHL All-Star Game.

* Theoren Fleury, retired NHL hockey player, humanitarian, spokesperson, and author

* Paul Boutilier, retired National Hockey League ( NHL ) hockey player, Stanley Cup Champion

* Norm Ferguson, retired NHL hockey player, member of Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame

* John Jr. Hanna, retired NHL hockey player

* Al MacNeil, retired NHL player and head coach, Stanley Cup Champion

* Kevin Morrison, retired NHL hockey player

# 99 was retired by the NHL, league-wide, in 2000 to honor Wayne Gretzky.

The following month, top scorer Ryan Smyth was traded to the Los Angeles Kings and Joe Sakic, the only team captain the Avs have ever known, retired after 20 seasons in the NHL.

The final game of the season, a 7 – 1 loss to the Calgary Flames, marked Trevor Linden's last NHL game, as the former Canucks'all-time leading scorer retired.

The original Hart Trophy was retired to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1960, and the NHL began presenting a new trophy, which was dubbed the Hart Memorial Trophy in its place.

* Bill Lindsay, retired NHL player

* Steve Coates ( born 1950 ), retired NHL hockey player and Philadelphia Flyers announcer.

* Larry Playfair – retired NHL player

* Birthplace of retired NHL hockey player Kent Nilsson.

Gordon " Gordie " Howe, OC ( born March 31, 1928 ) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played for the Detroit Red Wings and Hartford Whalers of the National Hockey League ( NHL ), and the Houston Aeros and New England Whalers in the World Hockey Association ( WHA ).

While the Red Wings still held his NHL rights even though he had retired eight years earlier, the Whalers and Red Wings reached a gentleman's agreement in which the Red Wings agreed not to reclaim him.

Mark Messier retired only 11 NHL games behind Howe at 1, 756 ( and counting minor league action and playoffs, 2, 048 total professional games ), but this is over five seasons away from 2, 478 total professional games ( including minor league action ), almost a thousand games ahead of the active career leader at the end of 2012 ( Roman Hamrlik ).

* Dallas Drake, retired NHL player who last played for the Detroit Red Wings.

On July 3, 2006, Yzerman officially retired, finishing his career ranked as the sixth all-time leading scorer in NHL history, having scored a career-high 155 points ( 65 goals / 90 assists ) in 1988 – 89 which has been bettered only by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

* Chad Kilger, retired NHL player

Paul Tetsuhiko Kariya (; ( Kariya Tetsuhiko ; born October 16, 1974 ) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey winger who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League ( NHL ).

Andre Kirk Agassi (; born April 29, 1970 in Las Vegas, Nevada ) is a retired American professional tennis player and former World No. 1, who was one of the game's most dominant players from the early 1990s to the mid 2000s.

Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova (; born 7 June 1981 ) is a Russian retired professional tennis player.

* Adrian Dantley ( born 1956 ), American retired National Basketball Association ( NBA ) player

* Adrian Griffin ( born 1974 ), American retired NBA player

Less than a year after retiring as a player, the Blues retired number 24 in his honor on March 16, 1992.

Dante Lavelli and Frank Gatski retired at the end of the season, leaving Groza as the only original Cleveland player still on the team.

The Chicago Cubs retired numbers are commemorated on pinstriped flags flying from the foul poles at Wrigley Field, with the exception of Jackie Robinson, the Brooklyn Dodgers player whose number 42 was retired for all clubs.

The Cowboys waited until Smith had retired as a player before inducting Aikman and Irvin, so all three could be inducted together, which occurred during halftime at a Monday Night Football home game against the arch-rival Washington Redskins on September 19, 2005.

Having retired as a player in 1979, he had no VFL coaching experience and was regarded as something of a risk, although he had coached in the Australian Army whilst on national service.

* 1955 – Eddie L. Johnson, retired American professional basketball player and sex offender

* 1975 – Chad Allen, American retired baseball player

The Marlins later retired the number 5 in honor of Barger's favorite player, Joe DiMaggio.

Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst MBE ( born 8 December 1941 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire ) is a retired England footballer best remembered for making his mark in history as the only player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final.

Nevertheless, Greenberg retired as a player to take a front-office post with the Cleveland Indians.

No player had ever retired after a final season in which they hit so many home runs.

* John Young ( soccer player ) ( born 1957 ), retired Scottish football ( soccer ) midfielder

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ( born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr., April 16, 1947 ) is a retired American professional basketball player.

* 1969 – Aggelos Koronios, Greek basketball coach and retired player

* Stefan Kretzschmar, retired professional handball player and Olympic medallist

Notably, Archie Manning's number 8 jersey has never been assigned to any other Saints player, but is not officially retired.

He became the first player to have his baseball uniform number retired at The University of Texas.

As of 2010, the Chargers ' policy was to have the Chargers Hall of Fame committee evaluate candidates for a player's number to retire after the player has retired from the league after five years, Seau was the only exception to this policy.

Famous athletes include Baseball Hall of Fame members Roger Bresnahan and Addie Joss, U. S. boxing Olympian Devin Vargas, 2012 Olympic silver medalist Erik Kynard ( Track & Field, high jump ), professional basketball player John Amaechi, retired NBA player Jim Jackson, and NBA Champions Chicago Bulls Dennis Hopson.