After a twenty year Junior/Pro career that has seen him go from Yorkton to Swift Current/Saskatoon in the WHL, to St. John's and Columbus/Cleveland/Salt Lake in the minors to all the way across the pond in Germany, Ian Gordon is finally hanging up his goalie pads. With just two games left in the DEL season Gordon recorded his 700th DEL start on February 19 against Wolfsburg and his ERC Ingolstadt Panthers clinched a playoff spot in what has been a rather successful final stretch of regular season action for Gordon who is retiring on his own terms after deciding this year would be his last in the summer.
For a player who has been in the game for as long as Gordon has, ending his career with teams still clamoring for his services and playing consistent hockey at 38 years old seems to be a fitting end for the Yorkton product. From playing in the Memorial Cup as a backup for the Swift Current Broncos to success with the Saskatoon Blades to end his Junior career and stops every in between in the pros, Gordon has made a path in professional hockey in every possible scenario, making it no surprise that he is ending his career on his own terms.
With it being his last season, Gordon has said that knowing that this year will be his last has made things interesting. "Playing hockey for as long as I have it has been interesting knowing that at the end of this season it is all over, but I have been really appreciative of and have really enjoyed the process of this last season more than any other one knowing that there is a finality to things said Gordon. As for the record setting 700th start, Gordon was quick to downplay the moment saying, "The 700th game was mainly special because I got to share it with my son and it would have been really bittersweet if I had to experience a moment like that with no one to watch as what makes moments in my career like this special is the fact that I get to share it with friends, family, and teammates that care about me."
A lengthy career that has spanned three countries and has seen him play all over Europe and even in Japan might not have been in Gordon's dreams from the get go, but he says that his career goals and where he saw himself going with hockey was a progressing one. "Turning pro was probably my biggest moment of my career. It kind of started as a kid when I thought it would be great to play for the Parkland Mallers (Yorkton Harvest) and then when I made the Swift Current Broncos that is when the light went off when I could turn pro and make a living playing hockey so turning pro (With the Calgary Flames and their AHL team in St. Johns was a huge moment for me."
A lengthy minor league career saw Gordon play in goaltending tandems with NHL goaltenders Dwayne Roloson, J.S. Giguere, and Corey Hirsch in both the American Hockey League for St. Johns and the now defunct IHL for the Cleveland Lumberjacks and the Utah Grizzlies, never playing a game in the NHL before deciding to make the jump into playing in one of the top European pro league's in Germany's DEL. Three years for the Schwennigen Wild Wings led him to the Frankfurt Lions where Gordon spent the prime of his career from 2003-10, winning his first and only DEL title with the Lions in 2004.
"Winning that title was probably the biggest moment of my pro career because after I turned pro I learned you need to check personal achievements at the door and winning that title in 2004 created some moments with teammates and coaches I will never forget and to this day whenever I go to Frankfurt I still get reminded of that year so that was another special moment in my career" said Gordon.
Gordon contributes much of his success to the ideals and work ethic his parents passed down to him when he was a kid in Yorkton saying, "My parents gave me great support in teaching me in believing in anything is possible and I had my own rink in my backyard so I would always be playing hockey any chance I could get and it was something I developed a full passion for." Childhood teammates and friends were also something Gordon looked back fondly on his time in Yorkton as a kid in minor hockey saying, "I got to play with a great group of talented friends in minor hockey, many of whom went on to win the Air Canada Cup and we were one of the better teams in the province growing up and some of those teammates are my best friends today and being young kids in a winning environment really helped me in my opinion and created some great childhood memories back home."
After this season is over a career in coaching the game looks to be in Gordon's future as he plans to begin helping out in running goalie camps in the summer time in addition to looking for employment as a goaltending coach, passing on his knowledge to the game's next generation. "I always want to continue to be involved in hockey, it is my job and a huge part of my life being in it professionally for nearly twenty years and I hope that I can continue to make my living in the game and help teach kids the game and help them improve" mentioned Gordon.
With two games left in the regular season and the playoffs on the horizon the career of a player who has done it all is about to come to an end. With twenty years of memories, accolades, and success at the minor, major Junior and pro levels, it seems that Gordon has no regrets in walking away from the game now.
