Bryan Little will sign a one-day contract with the Winnipeg Jets to officially retire as a member of the team. It’s an honour the long-time centre well deserves.
“It’s a great honour that I can retire as a member of the Winnipeg Jets and end my playing career with the organization where I was drafted and played my entire NHL career,” Little said in a news release. “I had the privilege to play in Winnipeg and in front of the amazing fans for nine seasons, so I’m grateful for the opportunity to thank the Jets, their fans and the city of Winnipeg. It will truly be a full circle moment for my family and I to celebrate my retirement in the building where I have so many special memories.”
Little’s Solid Career Ended With Serious Head Injury
Little was drafted 12th overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in 2006 and was one of the players the Winnipeg ownership group inherited when they bought and relocated the franchise in 2011. He played all 843 games of his NHL career with the Thrashers/Jets franchise, recording 217 goals and 204 assists for 521 points. He also had four goals and eight assists for 12 points in 27 playoff games.
Little sometimes took flak from Jets fans for his straightforward north-south play style, and it’s true he didn’t mesh perfectly with every player who flanked him on the second line. However, he was underrated and consistent, recording 40-plus-point seasons in all of his seven Jets campaigns that weren’t the 48-game lockout-shortened 2012-13 and his final season. The Jets have not found a long-term solution at second-line centre since.
Little’s career came to an unfortunate end on Nov. 5, 2019, when he took a Nikolaj Ehlers slap shot to the side of the head during the third period of a contest against the New Jersey Devils at then-Bell MTS Place. Little was completely unaware Ehlers’ shot was headed straight for his head and could do nothing to brace himself for or avoid the impact.
He was first taken to Winnipeg’s St. Boniface Hospital to receive stitches to fix the huge cut the impact opened, then was transferred to the Health Sciences Centre’s neurological unit for observation. He was later diagnosed with a brain bleed, concussion, and a perforated eardrum that required surgery.
Little was one week away from his 33rd birthday and one week removed from scoring the overtime game winner at the 2019 Heritage Classic in Regina versus the Calgary Flames, which turned out to be his final NHL goal. He was on the second year of a six-year contract extension he signed in 2017. He would have been a Jet, or at least still playing on that deal somewhere, through 2023-24 had the injury not occurred.
Related: 3 Winnipeg Jets Whose Careers Were Injury-Shortened
Almost a year after the injury occurred, he was ruled out of the shortened 2021-22 season, which was slated to begin in January, 2022 after COVID-19 ground the sports world to a halt the previous spring. He sought a number of medical opinions as to if he could ever play again, but said in 2023 “at the end of the day, there wasn’t anyone telling me it was a good idea to come back and couldn’t really tell me what would happen if I got hit badly again.” (From ‘”A lot of life to live after playing:” Cambridge native Bryan Little shares decision to unofficially retire from hockey,‘ Cambridge Times, May 8, 2023.)
“Bryan Little is a crucial part of the history of this franchise and was a key contributor to the Winnipeg Jets throughout his time in the NHL,” Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said in the release. “He was a humble, hardworking player that cared about his teammates and was a quiet, but important leader in the dressing room. Bryan demonstrated tremendous professionalism throughout his time here and it is a true shame that his career was cut short due to injury. I’m very excited that True North Sports + Entertainment, the Winnipeg Jets, and Jets fans everywhere will have the opportunity to celebrate Bryan and his family this season.”
The Jets initially put Little on long-term injured reserve (LTIR), but he did them a solid by waiving his no-trade clause so the team could trade his rights to the Arizona Coyotes in March 2022, who were just trying to get to the salary cap floor at the time. Having players on LTIR prevents a team from accruing salary cap space during the campaign.
Little, now 36, was recently featured by the NHL for his growing passion for triathlons. The Jets will honour Little at the Oct. 20 game versus the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Jets will wear their Heritage Blue jersey for the contest.