[sureLoss]

http://www.mankatofreepress.com/spor...e5c635f0b.html

Tim Jackman won't use the word "retired."

He'll wait until his 60s for that, when he can spend lazy days at a lake without a care in the world.

Now, at the age of 34, he's simply done playing professional hockey and moving on to the next phase of his life — one that is bringing him back to Mankato.

"I'm changing careers," he said.

To get to that next stage, Jackman has returned to his college-hockey home. He skated for two seasons at Minnesota State, 2000-01 and 2001-02, before departing for the pros and becoming the first former Mavericks player to make it to the National Hockey League. He played 14 years as a pro, including 483 games over 12 seasons with six NHL teams.

Jackman and his wife, Chelsey, bought a house in North Mankato and moved there with their 17-month-old son earlier this month. Next week, Jackman will be back in the classroom at MSU, finishing a degree in education.

He said he wants to teach and possibly coach. To get a taste of the latter, he'll also be working with the Minnesota State men's hockey team as a student-assistant on coach Mike Hastings' staff.

This isn't necessarily where Jackman expected to be a year ago when he was starting his third season with the Anaheim Ducks. He played two games for the Ducks, which turned out to be his final two as an NHL player.