TORONTO — Tyler Seguin clearly remembers when he thought his NHL career might be over.
It was Jan. 26, 2021, and the injured Dallas Stars forward sat down in front of a crackling fire with a buddy in Muskoka, Ont., an upscale cottage country two hours north of Toronto, and watched on TV as his team lost 2-1 in overtime to the Detroit Red Wings.
“I looked at my friend and said, ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to play anymore,'” the 30-year-old told NHL.com this week. “My career may be over. Maybe that’s it.
“I just didn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.”
Twenty-one months later, retirement is the furthest thing from his mind.
Seguin is off to a strong start with five points (two goals, three assists) in five games and vows to surpass the 49 points (24 goals, 25 assists) he had in 81 games last season by “at least 15 to 20 “.
“I still think there’s no way to [heck] I should be statistically where I was last year,” he said.
In the process, he never forgets the moment he thought it was time for him to leave the NHL.
“Whenever there are dark times, whenever I’m depressed, I think about this, about being in Muskoka, where I’m from,” Seguin said. “It keeps you going.”
Video: WPG@DAL: Seguin sends a puck from his knees
It was a return of sweat and resilience.
After playing the Stars’ entire run to the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals with a torn labrum in his hip, Seguin missed all but three games in 2020-21 and spent last season on his own. recovering from hip and knee surgery.
“His work ethic is second to none,” said Matt Nichol, Seguin’s personal trainer. “He didn’t give up without a fight.”
Seguin says he feels better than he has for the past three years. In his view, even after playing last season, he didn’t start running regularly for the first time in three years until July, with his hip and knee finally feeling normal again.
“He looks like the old Tyler,” Stars general manager Jim Nill said. “It was tough for him. I knew how depressed he was. People don’t understand how career threatening injuries can be. I thank him for working all the way back.
“It’s like we have a new player. Except we don’t.”
Through it all, Seguin still remembers how close he came to making a career out of it.
“I feel good,” he said. “But I will never forget.
“Never.”
Gone but not forgotten
It’s been 17 months since Jeff Gorton was fired as general manager of the New York Rangers on May 5, 2021, and despite being the Montreal Canadiens’ executive vice president of hockey operations, he still has a soft spot. for those who play for his former team and admits he still watches them play.
“I’m always happy for the players,” Gorton told NHL.com last week. “There are a lot of good guys there. I feel good that they had a lot of success last year and I think they will have a lot of success this year too.”
The Rangers reached the Eastern Conference Finals last season under first-year general manager Chris Drury, losing to lightening Tampa Bay in six games. They are 3-1-1 this season.
“Look, I’m proud that they’re pretty well organized and ready to do some racing here over the next few years,” he said. “And hopefully here we can do the same kind of thing.”
Gorton should be proud when he looks at the Rangers roster, considering he played a major role in building it.
As Rangers general manager from 2015-21, Gorton signed, re-signed, traded or drafted a number of players from that year’s squad, including forwards. Artemi Panarin, Mika ZibanejadAlex Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, Chris Kreider, Vitaly Kravtsovand Filip Chytil, and defenders Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, K’Andre Miller, Jacob Trouba, Braden Schneider, Libor Hajek and zac jones. He was the assistant general manager under Glen Sather when the goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin was written in 2014.
As for building something similar in Montreal, the Canadiens have a promising core of young talent led by the 23-year-old captain Nick Suzuki21 year old striker Cole Caufield and 18 years old Juraj Slafkovsky, the first pick of the 2022 NHL Draft who scored his first NHL goal on Thursday. Yes, patience is needed, but Rangers are proof that Gorton knows how to build a successful roster.
road warriors
In NHL player locker room lingo, the term “trade deadline suitcase” refers to an extra-large bag for maxed out players when they think there’s a chance they’ll be dealt before the deadline. The logic: you never know when you might be sent to a new city, so you need to be prepared.
The Arizona Coyotes are dragging a lot of those bags these days. But in this case, it has nothing to do with the potential to be traded.
The Coyotes are in the midst of a season-opening streak that will see them play 20 of their first 24 games on the road.
“I’ve got the trade deadline briefcase going on right now. I’ve got the big boys,” the defender Shayne Gostisbehere said with a small laugh. “I feel bad for my wife when I come back every two weeks and she has to do my laundry and then I leave in three days. But it’s not bad. I think we only have 10 games on the road from January to March, so it’s [a] give and take.”
The Coyotes are set to play the first of three seasons at Arizona State University’s new all-purpose facility, Mullet Arena. Due to scheduling conflicts with the ASU hockey team and construction work on the Coyotes’ facilities in the 5,000-seat area, Arizona has a busy road schedule this fall, including a road 14-game trip from November 5 to December. seven.
“I’ll tell you one thing, no veteran will be used to this road trip,” Gostisbehere said. “But, obviously, that’s the hand that’s been dealt to you. You can complain all you want, it won’t matter. I mean, we know we’re going to be on the road for God knows how long here. , but we have to deal with it.”
General manager Bill Armstrong said he heard rumors that some players might be unhappy at the start of the season due to the extreme logistics they face, but said they didn’t tell him.
“From my perspective, they’ve been great under difficult circumstances,” Armstrong said. “We brought them in to discuss building our dressing room, our training room, everything. We want them to be part of all aspects of the team.”
Arizona’s home opener, which kicks off a four-game homestand, is against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.
IN INVERTED COMMAS
“He almost died. Forget hockey, the way he was able to bounce back is amazing. ‘Donny’ got me into the US national team program as a teenager, so I’ve known him for a long time. That he receives an extension by the Sabres, especially considering what has happened in his life, I couldn’t be happier for him.”
– Vegas Golden Knights Forward Jack Eichel, a former Buffalo Sabers forward, on coach Don Granato’s new two-year contract with Buffalo. Granato, then a Sabers assistant, was hospitalized during the 2019 pre-season and at one point said his doctor told him he could die if he doesn’t have surgery within the next five minutes.
THE SUNDAY LIST
On June 14, eight days after being fired as coach of the Boston Bruins, Bruce Cassidy was hired as coach of the Vegas Golden Knights. It has been a whirlwind for the 57-year-old and his family, especially with the change in lifestyle from New England to the desert. Here are the top three things that surprised Cassidy during her brief stay in Vegas:
1. “Life away from [Las Vegas] Undress. When you arrive as the visiting team, you stay there, you’re among all the lights and the bells and whistles, you play, and then you leave. But far from it, it is a place of communities and families. That part was enlightening.”
2. “How hockey has grown here. No matter which handful of arenas you go to, they’re always full of kids playing. It shows you the impact the Golden Knights have on the community.”
3. “The lack of traffic. I thought there would be a lot, but it’s the opposite. It’s a big change from Boston. I mean, I don’t think I heard a car horn since I’ve been here.”
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