ITCHING TO RETURN
IceDogs goalie Tucker Tynan can’t wait to get back on the ice after scary injury
Niagara IceDogs goaltender Tucker Tynan has made a point of staying away from the rear-view mirror in his mind’s eye since suffering a life-threatening injury in an Ontario Hockey League game in midDecember.
Instead of replaying a goalmouth collision with a London Knights player that severed the quad muscle in his right leg, he is determined to focus all of his efforts on “looking forward” and making a “100 per cent recovery.” The “freak accident” resulted in massive blood loss, ending a promising season in his National Hockey League draft-eligible year.
“I try to be optimistic, I try not to think about it. I just look at what I need to do to move forward,” Tynan said in a telephone interview from Northbrook, Ill., a suburb of Chicago.
Tynan, who turns 18 on June 7, is anxious to get back on the ice and work on getting back his full range of motion.
He started skating just before arenas and rinks throughout North American were ordered closed to contain the spread of COVID-19.
That threw a monkey wrench into his rehab regimen, putting plans to come back “better than ever” indefinitely on hold.
“It was kind of a weird turn of events. Hopefully, the arenas will open in a couple of weeks,” he said
Canadian Blood Services notes the average human body has 10.5 units of blood, and the six-foot, 159pound Tucker needed five units after a London player was pushed into the crease and shredded the goaltender’s right quad muscle. The horrific accident happened 43 seconds into the second period of an interconference game Dec. 12 at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.
Tynan isn’t worried about freezing the first time a player is about to crash into the net when he returns, and he never considered the injury a wake-up call to give up a sport he has played since he was 10 years old. “I think it will be the same as it was before. This same thing happened probably a hundred to a few hundred times,” he said. “This is the only time something pretty bad happened. It’s not the last time this will happen. It’s part of the game.”
Tynan doesn’t think his playing style or his approach to the game will change any following the injury. “Maybe get a little more protective gear, but that’s about it,” he said after thinking about the question.
Tynan underwent emergency surgery in St. Catharines after being rushed to hospital. A followup procedure was scheduled to take place after he was back home recovering with his mother, Ruth.
“It turns out it actually looked better than it showed on the X-ray, so they didn’t need to do anything. No second surgery,” he said.
The shuttering of rinks has only kept him off his skates, not off his feet. In addition to playing tennis, his training regimen includes cardio to get back into game shape.
“A little bit of treadmill, a lot of biking,” Tynan said. “Honestly, it’s feeling pretty normal.”
He also has kept busy by taking online courses in anthropology and medical ethics.
Tynan is confident he will be “100 per cent” by the time IceDogs training camp opens, hopefully in early September, and he appreciates the confidence the team expressed in him when it didn’t select a goalie in the OHL draft in April.
“I think it’s a nice showing of goodwill,” he said.
Before the injury, Tynan, who was picked in the 10th round of the 2018 draft with the 192nd overall selection, was putting up impressive numbers as a rookie for a young team on the ground floor of a rebuild. Despite playing less than half a season, he led the team with a .910 save percentage and 3.80 goals-against average. His 11-8-3-1 mark also was tops on the IceDogs.
Christian Sbaraglia (3-13-2, 5.19 goals-against average and .877 save percentage), Andrew MacLean (216, 5.39 goals-against average and .858 save percentage) and Josh Rosenzweig (2-2, 6.98 goals-against average and .831 save percentage) also saw action between the Niagara pipes last season.
In January, the IceDogs rallied the community to support Tynan in his recovery by holding a blood drive in his honour.
A total of 65 donors, including 18 giving blood for the first time, donated 51 units.
The drive was well-received. Typically, the Canadian Blood Services clinic in St. Catharines averages between 35 and 45 donors at a weekday clinic.
’Dog Biscuits: Cameron Butler, RW, and Jake Uberti, C, are 138th and 147th, respectively, among North American skaters in the final NHL prospect rankings heading into this year’s NHL draft. … Welland native Colby Ambrosio is ranked 71st but the five-foot-eight, 170-pound centre remains committed to Boston College after averaging more than a point per game — 26 goals, 24 assists — in 48 games with the Tri-City Storm of the United States Hockey League.
“This same thing happened probably a hundred to a few hundred times. This is the only time something pretty bad happened.” TUCKER TYNAN NIAGARA ICEDOGS GOALTENDER