Header Photo: Rome celebrates a shorthanded goal on November 19, 2017, against the Manchester Monarchs. (Courtesy: Rich LeBlanc/Worcester Railers)

Ashton Rome will retire after 12 seasons in the AHL, ECHL, and the DEL, as confirmed to Woo Hockey this afternoon.

With his pro career lasting twelve seasons, Rome played in 294 games in the AHL for the Worcester Sharks, Toronto Marlies, Hershey Bears, and Portland Pirates. He also played in 173 regular season games in the ECHL, for the Worcester Railers, Phoenix Roadrunners, Idaho Steelheads, Greenville Warriors, and the Manchester Monarchs.

Rome, a former draft pick of the Boston Bruins and the San Jose Sharks, began his career in Worcester with the Sharks during their inaugural season. During that season, he would go on to play in 65 regular season games and an additional six in the playoffs, accumulating 12 points and 65 penalty minutes. Rome is one of two players to play with the Sharks and Railers during their career, with Ryan Lannon being the other. Rome tallied 15 goals, 11 assists, and 112 penalty minutes in 128 games for the Sharks.

He left Worcester during his third season with the Sharks, joining the Phoenix Roadrunners and later the Toronto Marlies under a PTO.

Ashton earned another PTO with the Hershey Bears during the 2009-10 season after playing in Idaho for 39 games. On a try-out contract heading into what would be a Calder Cup-winning playoff run, he earned a full contract for the 2010-11 season.

In recent years, Rome played for the Düsseldorfer, Schwenninger, and Iserlohn in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) of Germany, scoring over 100 points across five seasons. He returned to the ECHL in 2016 with the Monarchs, where he led the team in goals during their playoff run that season.

Rome returned to Worcester last season and was named the first team captain in Worcester Railers history. Rome suited up for the Railers half of the 2017-18 season, accumulating 16 points in 30 games. Battling injuries for the better half of the season, Rome played his last game as a Railer on January 10. He was traded at the trade deadline in exchange for Justin Agosta to the Manchester Monarchs.

Rome would go on to play 11 games for the Monarchs in the regular season, scoring 4 points. He then played in an additional six games before being eliminated by the Adirondack Thunder in the second round.

Various social media posts confirm that the Rome family recently became a franchisee of a Subway location in Manchester, NH.

Best of luck Ashton in Retirement, thanks for everything!