There was a Greek Chorus on one side of the dressing room – or maybe we should call it a Duck Chorus – listening in on Sam Carrick’s interview the other day after practice at Great Park Ice in Irvine.
Defensemen Cam Fowler and Kevin Shattenkirk registered their approval of Carrick’s word choice to describe the months of rehabilitation that Carrick faced after undergoing hip surgery in May.
Tedious.
“I’ve used it twice already,” Carrick said, looking amused.
While Carrick is inching closer to returning to the lineup – he has checked the next required box (full contact) in practice – it’s worth recapping what exactly he had to go through in terms of the surgical procedure in Toronto.
“They repaired the labrum,” he said. “They stitched that together. They shaved the bone down to make it more round, so I had more movement in my hip. Hip scope and labrum repair.
“The doctor said it’s common in goalies. What makes it feel long is when they shave the bone down, it becomes very weak.
“So the bone needs to heal. Everyone I’ve talked to that has had the surgery, say they haven’t had any issues since. That’s really the goal for me, obviously. So far I feel pretty good.”
It’s been a boost to his psyche to be around teammates at the rink and now as a full participant in practice.
“When you’re hurt, you feel like you’re kind of left out and you’re doing your own thing a lot,” Carrick said. “It’s nice to feel like one of the regulars. If you’re left out of a lot of things, when you do come back you feel like there’s a lot of catching up to do. I’m trying to stay on top of things if there’s any changes we’re making, I’m aware of it.”
Rebuilding 101
Ducks coach Dallas Eakins was asked about the Ducks’ winless streak after the loss in Vegas on Friday and if there was something identifiable in that run. One of the (very) few similarities between the Ducks and the Golden Knights is that both teams missed the playoffs this past season.
“No. 1 – we’re a rebuilding team,” Eakins said. “Us and this team (the Golden Knights) here, we’re in very far, different places when it comes to what the organizational expectations are. Vegas has a whole lot of veteran guys that have played in the league for awhile.
“They’ve been knocking on the door for a long time. We’ve got a bunch of guys with not that much experience. Unfortunately, the lessons in this league are not kind ones – they’re hard and we’re learning those right now.”
Also
The Ducks’ scratches against the Maple Leafs were defenseman Jamie Drysdale (upper-body injury), forward Pavol Regenda and forward Brett Leason. Regenda has been a healthy scratch three consecutive games. With the Ducks going with the 11 forward, seven defenseman lineup, the D pairs were Dmitry Kulikov-John Klingberg; Colton White-Fowler; Simon Benoit-Shattenkirk. Nathan Beaulieu was the extra defenseman rotated in. It was just White’s second game of the season, the first coming in New York against the Rangers.