SAN JOSE, Calif. — After more than a year trying to return from knee surgery, Stars goaltender Ben Bishop’s career is over, general manager Jim Nill said Saturday morning.
Bishop, who had surgery last year to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee, spent the last 14 months rehabilitating his knee. He joined the Stars at the beginning of training camp and practiced with the team almost every day since the beginning of the season.
Most recently, Bishop played for AHL affiliate Texas on Thursday night in his first game since the 2020 postseason. He allowed eight goals on 34 shots.
“It’s no secret, he has a degenerative knee injury, and he went down there, he wanted to be a big part of this,” Nill said. “He wanted to do everything he could to get back. In the end, by going through the process, going down there and playing, he found out that it’s the end of his career.”
Bishop is scheduled to speak with reporters on Tuesday morning.
Bishop, 35, was recalled from his conditioning loan on Saturday morning and placed on long-term injured reserve. He will remain there through the end of his contract in the summer of 2023.
Bishop finishes his career with 413 games played across five different franchises. He was a Vezina Trophy finalist three times, including second-place finishes in 2015-16 with Tampa Bay and 2018-19 with Dallas.
He played 143 games for the Stars across three seasons, going 74-48-11 with a .923 save percentage and 1.98 goals against average. He was part of the league’s best goaltending tandem with Anton Khudobin, and set a career high by making 52 saves against the Blues in Game 7 in 2019.
Bishop came two wins shy of winning the Stanley Cup in 2015 with the Lightning. Stars coach Rick Bowness was an assistant in Tampa Bay for that run.
“It hurts,” Bowness said. “I feel terrible for him because he’s such a great person and as I’ve always said, when he’s on, he’s a top three goalie in the league. He took us to the Finals in Tampa….