Nathan Paetsch decided to retire on Friday after 17 seasons of pro hockey, most spent in the Sabres organization.

Paetsch played in almost 900 games between the N-H-L, A-H-L and a short stint in Germany, including three stretches with the Amerks. He won two Calder Cups with Grand Rapids and says his only regret is not winning one in Rochester.

He scored a goal in his final game last March and delivered on a promise to his son to do a wiggle celebration that Kellan came up with playing for the team that his father coaches.

Paetsch is already on to another career but plans to stay involved with the Amerks Alumni and the community that his family has called home for his entire career.

Paetsch says, "I love hockey. Anybody who has been around knew I played so long because of my passion for the game and how much I loved it but I also loved the thrill of competing everyday whether it was practice or in games - I just loved that challenge and I loved that feeling of testing yourself and working as hard as you can. In different facets of life, you can work hard and it doesn't really get you far, but hockey was so simple for that. You just worked harder and you saw results and I just loved that period of the game."