Owen Nolan has officially retired from the National Hockey League. He will turn 40 on Sunday.

“I guess I’ve known this day was here for a while,” said Nolan. “It’s tough to give it up when your heart and mind wants to keep doing it. My body can’t keep up and I had to accept that.”

Nolan was born in Belfast and was raised in Thorold in Southern Ontario. He spent two seasons with the Cornwall Royals and went first overall into the NHL, getting drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in 1990. In his sophomore season with Quebec, Nolan popped in 42 goals for a total of  73 points. He played for the club until nine games into the 1995-1996 season when a trade sent him to the San Jose Sharks.

Nolan served as captain of the Sharks for five seasons and posted some of his best numbers there, including a career-best 84-point season in 1999-2000 that saw him score 44 goals.

Nolan was eventually traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs just before the 2003 trade deadline. After contract difficulties and the NHL lockout ended his tenure in T-Dot, Nolan took a year off to heal his injured knees. This would be the beginning of the end for the tough power forward.

After returning to the NHL, Nolan would become a journeyman of sorts. He signed with Calgary in 2007 and played his 1000th NHL game in October of that year. In the summer of 2008, Nolan signed with the Minnesota Wild and scored his 400th career goal in March of 2009. By the 2010-2011 NHL season, he was a free agent and was unable to lock in a contract. He spent the year in the Swiss league.

The Vancouver Canucks gave Nolan a tryout in August of 2011, but he didn’t make the team.

Nolan’s legacy is that of a player who mixed skill with grit. He would drop the gloves when necessary and could score goals and make plays. ”Owen is a great teammate,” said San Jose development coach Mike Ricci, who spent parts of 11 seasons with Nolan. “A lot of people know how tough a skater he was but he also had great hands to go with it. He was great in tight, and had the finesse to go with the toughness. He was a unique player.”

Nolan, a five-time All-Star, also won gold with Team Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics.