"I've had a great career, won three cups even, but this offseason was particularly tough on my body and coming into this season I could have used an extra month of healing. After speaking to my friends and family, we decided that it was time to move on after my contract comes up this year." said Ryan Johansen explaining why he came to his decision.

The 35-year-old has been a Royal mainstay for a majority of his career after being drafted by the Royals with their 10th pick in the league's inaugural draft. Johansen has had brief stops in South-Esk where he won a cup in season 3 after winning back-to-back cups with the Royals in season one and two. Never one to shy away from the physical side of the game, Johansen has always been near the top of the team leader in points and hits. Upon retirement, Johansen will be the Royals team leader in a majority of categories such as games played, goals, assists, points, penalty minutes, and shots. In other words, Johansen has been the defacto face of the Royals incredible run of 10 straight playoff appearances.

"We'll miss Ryan, but he owes us nothing. After such a great career proudly wearing the Royals uniform, he has given us his all and that effort has made us one of the most successful franchises in the ODBHL. He'll retire proudly as one of the league's greats. We wish him well, but hey, we have a season to play, and hopefully we send him off with a silver cup!" said GM Nagle

When there are things to rally around, teams tend to rise to the occasion. With Johansen getting his announcement out of the way early, they can now get to concentrating on winning games and pushing for a championship, a feat that the team is poised and loaded to do, especially considering Johansen finds himself on the team's third line.

"I don't see it as a demotion at all. We have some amazing talent on this team and to be able to put my talents on the third line only shows just how deep we are. I'll proudly wear the 'C' whenever I jump over the boards and hopefully lead this team even more off the ice. I am excited for this year, and look forward to skating off a champ!" finished Johansen.