POLAK KEPT SELF-DOUBT IN CHECK TO RECLAIM ROLE
Leafs blue-liner team’s nominee for Masterton
Back in August, player agent Allan Walsh was posting video of Roman Polak working out alone in the Czech Republic, letting the NHL know he was alive and well, trying his hardest to recover from a broken leg.
There were some dark days, however, when Polak wondered if his fateful spill in a TorontoWashington playoff game last April would be his last.
“Sure, I had a couple of days it crossed my mind that you might be done,” said Polak, “but I tried to eliminate those. I had a goal, but I was only going to reach it if I had positive thoughts — with no thought that I wasn’t going to play hockey.”
After taking the long way home, through months of solo rehab, hours of skating drills, no guaranteed contract beyond a professional tryout, Polak earned back his job with the Leafs — and the team’s nomination for the 2018 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. Awarded to the NHL player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey and chosen by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, there will be a vote on all 31 team nominees next month before the league awards night in June.
It was Game 2 last spring and Polak was initiating a rare puckcarrying rush for a stay-at-home defenceman. Spinning away from Washington’s Brooks Orpik and going airborne, his bulk folded over on his twisted right knee.
“You knew something was wrong right away,” Polak said. “The first five seconds was shock, I didn’t feel it at all. Then after an hour, the shock is gone, the adrenalin slows down and everything went out. Then you’re in pain. I was waiting two days for surgery with a broken leg. That wasn’t fun.”
More than a dozen screws were inserted as part of the reconstructive operation for the 31-year-old. At home in Ostrava, Czech Republic, Polak lumbered around on crutches and hit the gym the first chance he could get, but needed someone to help him into a car.
“I tried to do everything, but basically on the crutches it was tough. I tried to keep the same schedule, get out of the house every day, work out, even (solely) on the healthy leg or the upper body. I worked with other NHLers over there (Radek Faksa of Dallas, Ondrej Palat of Tampa Bay). It’s mentally tough when you’re not doing anything. You start thinking — and thinking too much. You don’t want to get depressed, so I took it positive every day. I was grateful the way the Leafs treated me. I had good help from the training staff. We made it happen.”
Whether there were other tryouts offered, Polak took the Leafs’ offer, encouraged no doubt by coach Mike Babcock, while GM Lou Lamoriello insisted the team and staff treat Polak as a full-time player. Yet the GM said he gave Polak no promises of a spot. He’d have to beat out some younger players.
Polak, who no longer had the Toronto residence his family lived in for four years, was in a hotel by himself. Estimating he was about 50 per cent in game shape at training camp, he played just five games up to U.S. Thanksgiving, but has been on the roster since and now plays fairly regularly, sometimes at or near 20 minutes a game when his penalty killing skills are required.
Though his plodding ways sometimes stand out on a team with so much speed and creativity, it can be to the Leafs’ advantage when play is around the net and Polak starts hammering opposing forwards. When defenceman Nikita Zaitsev went down with a broken foot and then a bad virus, Polak regained his role as a prime penalty killer.
And younger, smaller Leafs, such as rookie blue-line partner Travis Dermott, know Polak has their back.
“He’s always there to stand up for guys, not just me,” Dermott said. “Especially when we don’t have (policeman) Matt Martin in the lineup. It’s great to have Poley out there to make space for guys and make sure no one is being an idiot and running around. Guys like him and Connor Carrick come in here and are working every second to make themselves better and make people around them better.”
Polak came to the NHL via the St. Louis Blues in 2006.
“I don’t feel any changes from last year,” Polak said. “I always take pride in the PK and the numbers. I was always a shutdown defenceman and (killing penalties) just kind of became a role. It’s not just one individual, it’s four guys. If everyone’s doing their job, it’s easier to kill a penalty.”
Polak says he has to be careful not to let the leg get too stiff when the Leafs have a day off, going for a walk with his kids when he can.
“I took it day to day. I‘m not going to lie, I didn’t need this (award nomination), I did it for myself to prove I could do it.”
He hopes to make a big contribution in playoffs.
“I’m looking forward to it because we have a great team. It’s going to be a lot of fun. It was tough (last year) when you’d waited all year for playoffs and it lasted two games.”
Defenceman Morgan Rielly is glad Polak will be ready for April.
“He’s a big part of our back end, very hard to play against. The perfect example of a guy who is willing to put his body on the line and play hard.
“I don’t think there was any doubt about him making a return. The way he worked in the off-season was a perfect example of who he is. He came back and is playing better than ever. It was a challenge, but he persevered.”