“Still down about five pounds” – Drake Batherson aims high after season full of highs and lows
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Drake Batherson
Drake Batherson is one of those few National Hockey League (NHL) players who experienced a lifetime of ups and downs in a single season. The Senators’ lanky winger was earlier his team’s best player for the first three months of the schedule, and was named Ottawa’s representative at the NHL All-Star Game.
However, Batherson later went on to miss the ASG and two full months of action when a minor league-recall goalie recklessly blindsided him causing a high ankle sprain. Following this, he contracted COVID-19 in November and just last week was hit by a flu virus that caused him to miss three more games and lose 10 pounds.
“I was actually telling the boys the other day, I’m still down about five pounds,” Batherson says from Seattle, as quoted by Sportsnet. “But I’m trying to eat as much as I can right now to get the weight back up. I’m definitely feeling better as the games go on here and my energy is starting to come back.”
“Am starting to come around full circle”
Despite 36 games missed and still with 40 points in 41 games, the Indiana native Batherson somehow maintains that chill East Coast attitude.
“I mean, I don’t feel 100 per cent yet,” he says. “Being out two months with an injury, then you come back and you’re out again for a week – lost 10 pounds. I feel like the body was just in a bit of shock there for a bit. But I’m starting to come around full circle.”
FYI, the high ankle sprains can be tricky to heal and are notorious for flaring up again. But luckily in Batherson’s case, the 23-year-old says the ankle has held up pretty well.
“I have the odd tweak here and there, but it only lasts for about 30 to 45 seconds and then it’s back to normal,” he added. “The trainers have done a great job here. I feel it’s close to 100 per cent. Probably not quite. I’m not a doctor. But it feels pretty good.”
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Sachin Arora
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