Darche hangs up his skates -- literally -- via Twitter

It appears former Montreal Canadiens forward Mathieu Darche has announced his retirement via his Twitter page (@matdarche52).

Darche, who played 149 games for the Montreal Canadiens over the past three seasons, tweeted a picture of skates hanging in a locker stall and wrote, "Time to make it official! Moving on to second career."

According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, Darche's agent, Steve Freyer, confirmed his client was retiring.

Darche played nine games with the Columbus Blue Jackets in their inaugural season of 2000-01. He played 250 NHL games over nine seasons. He did not play in the NHL during the 2005-06 season and did not become a full-time NHL player until 2007-08, when he had 22 points in 73 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

He compiled 30 goals and 42 assists for 72 points over his 250 NHL games. Darche played 24 games with the Blue Jackets, two each with the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks, 73 with the Lightning and 149 with the Canadiens.

Darche was trying to latch on with the New Jersey Devils this season. He had been skating with the team since training camp began but never received a contract.