WATCH – John Carlson back on ice donning regular jersey after “scary” head injury following hit from Brenden Dillon
Washington Capitals and their fans expect to welcome back defenceman John Carlson after nearly 3 months of his absence from the ice due to a head injury.
Follow Us
John Carlson [Image Credit: Yardbarker]
Washington Capitals are eagerly waiting to welcome back one of their best defenceman John Carlson as soon as Thursday. Carlson has been placed on IL after his slapshot incident to the head by Winnipeg Jets Brenden Dillon.
He’s been dealing with a skull fracture and laceration from his incident on December 23. This Thursday will mark Carlson’s 3 whole months of recovery as per the medical guidelines. Regardless of the notice, Carlson and his team has stated that the defenceman won’t be playing until there’s a clear signal from the doctors.
For the last few weeks, John Carlson has been practicing with his team donning a no-contact jersey, but that has recently changed. His no-contact jersey has now been replaced with a regular jersey, signaling his betterment.
Defenceman John Carlson is back on the ice after a head injury
John Carlson during a recent interview stated, “I would like to play soon”. “That’s my goal. That’s what from earlier on I had in mind. I think the major hurdles are behind me certainly and I think my expectation would be to play soon.” “I’m feeling really good”.
“Feel rejuvenated. I think I haven’t had this much time off and over the winter in my life probably. Just try to take care of myself, get better and do things that I otherwise wouldn’t do and get ready for coming back.”
Brenden Dillon’s slapshot to the head created a pool of blood on ice, as the Capitals defenceman held his head and ran towards the medical room. The team was quite tense, as the coach Peter Laviolette noted, “There’s no question it was scary”. “It was scary for 24 hours there.”
“So, it was really good to hear the prognosis and to know that John was going to be OK and that in time everything would be back to normal. It’s a dangerous game out there at times.”
“It’s fast. It’s physical. The hits, the puck flies around at 100 miles an hour, there’s a lot of things that can go on and you always want to make sure the player are protected.”
General manager Brian MacLellan commented on John Carlson’s absence, “It’s hard to replace a guy like him”. “We bumped guys up in the lineup and increased their minutes, which most of them handled well, but it’s still not the same as having John in there playing both the power play and penalty killing.”
“I do think it had a big effect on the results from the end of December on. It contributed to what I would call our inconsistencies.” The Caps will be facing off against Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday before hosting Chicago Blackhawks.
Carlson further stated that even if the team doesn’t make the playoffs this season, he’ll still want to join the Caps in their last 2022-23 season run. Without compromising his health in any condition, Carlson wishes for a speedy debut with the team on the ice.
Currently, the team is trailing the Pittsburgh Penguin and New York Islanders with 5 points for the 2nd wild card entry, as 12 games remain for the Eastern Conference. Carlson said, “This is a tough time of the year to come back to – what these guys have been dealing with day in and day out”. “Backs against the wall feelings. There’s a lot of that going on in the room right now.
“I’m trying to keep spirits high and do the only thing I can do which is get prepared,” he continued. “It’s tough emotionally to see how hard they’re battling and see how things are going. Every night seems like it’s a must-win. It’s difficult to play a long period of time like that.”
In case you missed:
WATCH – Torey Krug EXPLODES on NHL official following penalty call during Jets vs Blues 3-0 game
Stay Updated!
Kaushani Chatterjee
(2173 Articles Published)