With his time in the NHL winding down, Colorado Avalanche forward Jarome Iginla now understands how difficult it can be to walk away from the game.

The future Hall of Famer is in the midst of his 20th season, and with his contract set to expire, he'll need to decide whether to call it a career - a decision he once thought would be easy.

"I remember watching guys like when (Teemu) Selanne was debating and (Nicklas) Lidstrom and Mark Recchi; it's year to year," Iginla said, according to NHL.com's Amalie Benjamin. "I'd always be like, 'Oh, they know for sure if they're playing or not.' Now I totally understand it, I totally do. And I realize that they didn't (know), because I don't know.

"I know I'm not playing that much longer no matter what it is, and then take it as it comes. I don't know. I don't know if I'll play again, or I may."

The two-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner admitted the hardest part about possibly calling it a career is saying goodbye to all the fun that comes with playing the game.

"I realize that I'm going to miss it," he said. "People retire, you hear about the adjustment of 'Oh, well, it's been what we do' and all that. But I'm also going to miss it because it's fun. It's a ton of fun. It's not just what I'm used to, it's fun to come to the rink and compete and get ready to battle and win, and I'm going to miss that. But hopefully for now, just looking forward to literally (the) next game."

Iginla will continue to take it one game at a time, with his 1,500th appearance coming in Saturday's contest.

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