The 39-year-old has opted to hang up his skates after a career which included 833 appearances in the National Hockey League (NHL) and three Winter Olympics for his country.

He is considered as one of Germany's most successful ice hockey exports after representing St Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers and Buffalo Sabres in the NHL.

He scored 186 goals and recorded 277 assists in the world's best league and appeared in 59 post-season games.

For Germany, he appeared at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, and then the Salt Lake City and Vancouver Games in 2002 and 2010 respectively.

The country's best Olympic performance was a quarter-final appearance in Salt Lake City.

Hecht also played in six World Championships and two World Cups.

“After a long and difficult thinking process I decided to end my career," he said.

"It wasn’t an easy decision after so many years. 

"I experienced highs and lows but the love for the game always remained. 

"I look back at my career with pride and would do everything the same way again."

In Europe, the only team Hecht played for were his hometown side Adler Mannheim.

He won three German Championships with them and retired as a Mannheim player after leaving the NHL ranks in 2013. 

His number 55 will be retired.