The King's reign between the NHL pipes has officially come to an end ... Henrik Lundqvist announced Friday he's retiring from hockey due to his battle with heart issues.
The legendary goalkeeper said, according to the New York Post, that he could have tried to keep pushing to get to 100 percent and play another season eventually ... but ultimately decided hanging up the skates would be the better option.
"It came down to how badly I wanted to push it, how much of a gamble did I want to take?