‘Just staying patient’: Injured Canes forward watches NHL playoffs, works toward return
Andrei Svechnikov handled the warning siren Monday at PNC Arena as the Carolina Hurricanes took the ice for Game 1 of the playoffs against the New York Islanders.
“I was going pretty good and my shoulder got tired,” he said, smiling. “It was fun.”
Granted, the Canes would have rather had the power forward on the ice and in the lineup. The Islanders were fine with him making all his noise upstairs and then watching the game.
It’s a hard-to-accept situation for Svechnikov, who tore his right ACL on March 11 against the Vegas Golden Knights at PNC Arena. He wants to be as supportive as he can for his team. But not being a part of the playoffs …
“It’s tough,” Svechnikov said Monday in his first comments since the injury. “This season, it was kind of OK but right now, once you sit down and see this atmosphere and what they’re playing for, everything comes together and it’s kind of tough to watch and not be able to play side by side with my boys.
“It’s very hard, to be honest. I’ve just got to stay patient.”
Svechnikov said he was injured on a simple, non-contact play against Vegas, catching his right skate in a rut as he pivoted. He left the game but later returned to play in the third period.
But surgery was needed for ACL reconstruction. His season, highlighted by his first appearance in the NHL All-Star Game, was over. He said Monday he was told the recovery period would be six to nine months.
“The surgery went good, the doctors said, but the first couple of weeks it was not good and a little bit painful,” Svechnikov said. “After that it was fine. I’ve been walking and doing all the exercises and working out every day.”
Svechnikov, 23, said he first injured his ACL during the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Eastern Conference playing its games in the Toronto “bubble” because of the pandemic. Tangling with defenseman Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins in front of the Bruins net, Svechnikov fell backward, twisting his right leg.
Svechnikov said he sprained his right ankle, tore his MCL and slightly tore the ACL in the leg.
“It was a matter of time,” he said of a more serious ACL injury.
Svechnikov’s older brother, Evgeny, also suffered a torn ACL, injuring his right knee in September 2018. Then with the Detroit Red Wings, he returned in the fall of 2019.
“He’s been through that and he’s given me really good advice,” he said.
Which is?
“Be patient.”
Svechnikov will continue to be an antsy observer as the playoffs move on, and said he might travel with the team to some of the road games. He’ll long remember the reception he received in Game 1, at home.
“I’ve been feeling that love for the last four weeks, to be honest,” he said, again with a smile.
This story was originally published April 17, 2023 at 8:49 PM with the headline "‘Just staying patient’: Injured Canes forward watches NHL playoffs, works toward return."
