‘IT’S BEEN AN EXTREMELY TOUGH TIME’
Karlsson thankful for widespread outpouring of support after loss of son
Erik Karlsson is playing through the pain.
Speaking for the first time since the Ottawa Senators captain and his wife Melinda Currey lost their son on March 19, Karlsson told reporters Thursday night that he’s doing the best he possibly can under difficult circumstances.
Karlsson said he has appreciated all the support he has received from the Ottawa organization, his teammates, people across the league and the public during what has been a terribly difficult time for his family.
“I’m doing OK,” Karlsson said after the Senators’ 3-2 overtime victory over the Florida Panthers at Canadian Tire Centre. “It’s been an extremely tough time and a situation I never expected to be in.
“I just want to thank my teammates, this organization, this community, people around the league, and people we don’t even know, for giving us their support and our time to be ourselves and grieve. Looking back, it meant a lot to us for all the people that reached out — people that we know and people that we don’t know. It helped us get through this a little bit.”
Karlsson said the road to recovery from this tragedy isn’t going to be easy.
“It’s going to take us a very long time to get back to normal, but we’re going to do everything we can to stay as positive as possible,” Karlsson said. “I think my wife has handled the situation better than I could have ever imagined and it’s not something that you can prepare yourself for.
“At the end of the day, we really appreciate everything that everybody has done for us and helped us out as much as they possibly can, and at the same time, respected our privacy and the way we wanted to handle things … . For that, I’m extremely grateful to be in the position that I’m in.
“It was very public, unfortunately. It’s not something that we wanted to go through and, at the end of the day, we appreciated everything from people that we know, to people that we don’t know, for reaching out and telling their stories and showing their support.”
Karlsson returned to the Senators’ lineup last Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes. He said being at the rink has helped take his mind away from what’s happening at home, but it’s difficult.
“It’s been hard . ... It’s been hard to kind of get the motivation,” Karlsson said. “At the same time, it’s been kind of a comfort zone to get back into routine and think about something else for a while.
“At the end of the day, these guys mean a lot to me, and when we go through something like this, everybody gets together and they really embraced me and have given me everything that I need in this time. For me to just get back to normal and see everybody else behave normal has helped me a lot.
“Hopefully, I can play the remainder of the season out.”
The Senators are going to let Karlsson handle the rest of the schedule in whatever way he wants. He will accompany the team to Detroit on Friday for their game against the Red Wings on Saturday afternoon, and he’ll also suit up Monday night in the Senators’ home finale against the Winnipeg Jets.
Karlsson said a decision on the club’s final three-game road trip of the season next week will be made on Monday.
“I don’t know yet. I’m going to go to Detroit (Friday),” he said. “I’m going to leave the house for the first time and see how it goes. My wife is still struggling a little bit. Overall, she’s doing fine physically, which has been a relief.
“We’re going to take it day by day. That’s all we can do right now. We’re trying not to look too far ahead. As I said, I’m going to play in Detroit and then I’m going to play at home against Winnipeg, and then we’re going to re-evaluate the last four days on the road.”
Coach Guy Boucher praised Karlsson for the resolve he’s shown since his return.
“He’s been very focused,” Boucher said. “Coming here, for him, he wants to do it and he needs to feel he’s with the boys and contributing to what we need to do on and off the ice.
“I’m very impressed by his focus. During games he could easily be frustrated or tired and everybody would understand. He’s displayed a lot of focus. It was great that we got this game tonight, and that he was in the lineup and able to feel good with the group.”