Former NHL All-Star Palffy announces retirement

Three-time NHL All-Star Ziggy Palffy on Wednesday announced his retirement from professional hockey.

Palffy, 41, played for three teams in 12 NHL seasons, most recently with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005-06.

"One morning is more beautiful than the previous one, and you have other opinions," Palffy told the International Ice Hockey Federation website. "At this point, I believe that I quit. Definitive. Already I do not want to travel anywhere. Did it enough."

A 1991 second-round pick of the New York Islanders (No. 26), Palffy had 329 goals and 713 points in 684 regular-season games with the Islanders, Los Angeles Kings and Penguins. He's seventh in League history among Slovak players in goals and points.

A six-time 30-goal scorer, his best seasons came with the Islanders, when he had at least 40 goals in three straight seasons (1995-98), topped by career-best totals of 48 goals and 90 points in 80 games in 1996-97. He played in the NHL All-Star Game in 1998, 2001 and 2002.

After sitting out the 2006-07 season, he spent five seasons in his native Slovakia, playing for HK 36 Skalica. Last season, he had 26 goals, 73 points and a plus-40 rating in 39 games.

Palffy was a regular for Slovakia at international tournaments. He won a gold medal at the 2002 IIHF World Championship and a bronze medal the next year. He played in the 1994, 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympics, when he had three assists in seven games.