Jonathan Drouin understood something essential
Tonight will mark the return of forward Jonathan Drouin to the Habs lineup. Following the morning practice in New York, he took a few minutes of his time to talk about his injury.
He explained the process he went through to make his return official. He said the infamous Brett Kulak shot he took to the face ended up on his temple.
"It happened fast. You get a puck to the head, it's not something you're used to, it's not normal," said number 92 after the Habs' morning practice. "I saw black for a couple of minutes. We wanted to make sure I wasn't bleeding."
Drouin was given the green light to play in Sunday's game against the Boston Bruins. However, for Drouin, getting the green light doesn't mean he's feeling good. A wise decision that very few players would have made. To his credit, Drouin listened to himself.
"I had the green light, but green light and feeling good are not the same thing for me," he said.
"I wasn't feeling well that morning in Boston, I still had a headache. I was feeling good before I went to Boston, but I don't know if it's the two games in two nights, the sleep, but I wasn't feeling good, I didn't want to go into that game."
Even if his team is in trouble right now, it was important for Drouin to listen to himself before anything else.
"We've got a bunch of injuries, it's hard to see other guys go out like Hoff," Drouin admitted. "So not playing in Boston was tough. But you have to listen to your body and your head."
Number 92 was keen to stress that he received no pressure from the organization to speed up his return to the game.
"No, no, no. I don't think so. With the record we have, you don't want to miss a game, but when you're injured... It's not ankle pain, it's headaches. I had a headache when I put my helmet on. It was a pressure I had here. But there's no more swelling, no more pressure when I put my helmet on."
His head coach Dominique Ducharme is very happy to have his protégé back. His return will greatly help Christian Dvorak and Josh Anderson to become themselves on the ice.
"Jo, we know what he can do with the puck," said Ducharme. "When he's active, he can create a lot of plays. It can simplify Dvorak's job, who needs to play less with the puck, who likes to go to the net, in the pay zone. It can help Dvorak and Anderson."
If you were wondering what kind of mood Drouin was in this morning, here's a look at it:
Welcome back, Jo!
