TORONTO, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Cliff Ronning, one of the smallest players ever in the National Hockey League, Wednesday announced his retirement after 18 seasons.
The 5-foot-8 -inch, 165-pound Ronning had 306 goals and 563 assists and his 869 points in 1,137 games rank him in the top 100 on the NHL's all-time scoring list (91).
"Even though I was always one of the smallest kids on my hockey team growing up, I never stopped dreaming about playing in the NHL, so having the ability to live out that dream was unbelievable," he said. "I certainly hope that kids who are also small in stature but not in heart will look at me and other similar players and know that their dream can come true through hard work and dedication to the game."
He was the 134th pick in the 1984 draft by St. Louis and also played for Vancouver, Nashville, Los Angeles, Minnesota and the New York Islanders.
