Worcester Railers forward and former Shrewsbury High star Jack Quinlivan announces retirement

Worcester Railers forward and former Shrewsbury High hockey star Jack Quinlivan announced Friday that he is retiring from professional hockey.

Quinlivan was a four-year star at Shrewsbury High, notching 41 points in his senior season as a captain for the Colonials, before playing a year at Albany Academy and another season with the Boston Junior Bruins in the USPHL Premier in 2016-17, where he posted 16 goals and 18 assists in 43 games. 

More:This Shrewsbury native is back on the ice with the Railers after finding out he had cancer

Quinlivan shined for five seasons at the University of Maine, where he was a two-time captain for the Black Bears and notched four goals and 11 assists in 123 games before signing with the Railers in August 2022.  

Quinlivan played 10 games in his rookie season before he was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer in December 2022, forcing him to miss the 2022-23 season while undergoing treatment. Quinlivan discovered the cancer after an on-ice collision with an Idaho Steelheads player in an ECHL hockey game on Dec. 11, 2022. While receiving treatment for the hit, a Railers team trainer noticed a lump on Quinlivan’s neck that led to the diagnosis.

Quinlivan underwent a pair of surgeries to remove the thyroid and roughly 70 lymph nodes from his neck. After the treatment succeeded, Quinlivan focused on a return to the ice and earned a roster spot out of Railers training camp for the 2023-24 season.

Quinlivan returned to the ice on Nov. 10, 2023 in St. John's, Newfoundland, and recorded an assist in his first game played at the DCU Center since his return a week later. The team named him an alternate captain on March 1.

"I feel like I am in a good space where I can end it on my terms," Quinlivan said in a statement. "I'm appreciative of the Worcester Railers for the opportunity to play professional hockey, especially in my own hometown. To have gone through what I did with my cancer treatments, and for them to have given me another chance with all of my teammates' support and the organization's support, it's two years I will always cherish.

"Going to those IceCats and Sharks games 10 minutes from my house and eventually coming back full circle after Maine and playing here was such a comfortable feeling. That's what made me so comfortable out on the ice, because I was representing something that I was so proud of to represent, which was the Worcester community."

Quinlivan played in 42 games for the Railers, collecting eight goals and seven assists along with 26 penalty minutes. Quinlivan also netted two game-winning goals for Worcester.

"He did the game of hockey justice by always playing it the right way," Railers coach Bob Deraney said in a statement. "He was a credit to the Railers organization and an inspiration to his teammates. We can't thank Jack enough for all he did for this team.”

"We want to thank Jack for everything he brought to the organization every single day," Railers chief operating officer Michael Myers said. "It is impossible to replace someone like Jack who embodies so well what it means to be a Railer both as a player and a person. He will always be a part of our Railers family, and we look forward to seeing what his next chapter in life brings."