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Joe Pavelski Beats Out High-Profile Celebrities and Athletes to Win ACC Gold Championship

Originally posted on House of Hockey | By Aaron Itovitch | Last updated Jul 13, 2025 10:37 PM ET

Joe Pavelski, only a year removed from his retirement from the NHL, has beat out celebrities such as Charles Barkely at the American Century Championship.

Pavelski, whose whopping 1332 NHL-game career was split between the San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars, retired last season after a heartbreaking conference finals exit in Dallas.

One of the greatest seventh round picks in NHL history, Pavelski was a captain, an all-star, and most importantly, a fan-favourite personality. Despite going 205th in the 2003 NHL draft, he is amongst the best players in the class. His 20-year career was only beat out by Corey Perry and Brent Burns from said draft.

In retirement, apart from being a full-time father, Pavelski is honing his golf skills. It's clearly going well; he just won the American Century Championship!

Fellow NHLers TJ Oshie and Matthew Tkachuk equally participated. Here is a full list of celebrity participants (from first place to last place):

Joe Pavelski, John Smoltz, Jake Owen, Taylor Twellman, Stephen Curry, Mark Mulder, Annika Sorenstam, Tony Romo, Mardy Fish, Michael Pena, Adam Thielen, Matt Ryan, Kevin Millar, Austin Reaves, Aaron Rodgers, Jack Wagner, Alex Caruso, Derek Lowe, Joe Mauer, Hally Leadbetter, Brian Urlacher, Carson Daly, Jerry Rice, Vinny Del Negro, Derek Carr, Bret Baier, Dell Curry, Alfonso Ribeiro, Patrick Peterson, Jerome Bettis, Seth Curry, Ray Allen, TJ Oshie, Tim Brown, Josh Allen, Matthew Tkachuk, Larry Fitzgerald, Dwight Freeney, Kyle Lowry, Joe Buck, Albert Pujols, Andrew Whitworth, Chris Harrison, Jay Bilas, Sam Darnold, Nate Bargatze, AJ Hawk, Roger Clemens, Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Ryan Fitzpatrick, David Wells, Chase Utley, Gary Sheffield, Jayson Werth, Justin Gaethje, Emmitt Smith, Zach LaVine, Kyle Juszczyk, Vince Carter, Mike Vrabel, Timothy Simons, Davante Adams, Charles Woodson, Rob Riggle, Travis Kelce, Jim McMahon, Marcus Allen, Charles Barkley, Ray Romano, Joe Theismann, Brian Baumgartner, Colin Jost, Cathy Engelbert, Trevor Lawrence, Miles Teller, Jay DeMarcus, Larry the Cable Guy, DeMarcus Ware, Rob Mac, George Kittle, Jason Scheff, Baker Mayfield, Justin Reid, The Miz, Jason Kelce, Grant Hill, Kathryn Tappen, Rich Eisen, Dylan Dreyer

As Pavelski continues his life in retirement, Stars and Sharks fans continue to hope for the one thing Joe Pavelski was never able to win -- the Stanley Cup.

This article first appeared on House of Hockey and was syndicated with permission.

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