Couture not ready but close
Center nearly healed, but mental hurdle remains in return from leg fracture
SAN JOSE — Sharks center Logan Couture looks smooth and confident on the ice when he takes his normal stride. But before he takes a sharp turn or comes to a stop, his mind will occasionally flash back to the day he was injured and the pain he felt.
“There’s always that confidence that needs to be built back up,” Couture said Monday. “Somewhere in the back of your
mind, you remember how it felt when you broke your leg, or how it felt when you tweaked it a little bit one time. Just getting past that takes time.”
The fractured right fibula at the ankle that Couture suffered over six weeks ago is close to being fully healed. But there’s also the matter of improving his onice conditioning, his timing and his mental state.
Tuesday’s Sharks game against the Pittsburgh Penguins will be the 21st that Couture has missed since the Oct. 15 injury. Couture said he’ll return when he feels completely comfortable doing everything he’s used to doing on the ice, and “until then, I’m not going to force my way out there and put myself in a bad spot.”
Couture now looks to avoid ruts on the ice surface, like the one his skate got caught in during practice at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. His skate was stuck, and the bone was broken when he took a hit from a teammate and fell to the ice.
That’s not always easy to forget.
“When you have a significant injury like that where you’ve actually got surgically a rod and pins put in, I think the mental part is probably even tougher,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “The doctors give you a clean bill of health, they tell you the bone’s fully healed. Mentally, it’s getting to the point where you’re not thinking about it as you’re going through a game or a practice.
“So, he’s in that stage, and every time he gets out there, he looks more comfortable.”
From all indications, Couture’s physical rehabilitation from his Oct. 17 surgery has progressed without Logan Couture says, “I know I’m not going to be 100 percent when I come back. That takes time.” any major setbacks. He’s beyond the four-to-six week timetable the Sharks had initially announced but still does not appear to be too far away from a return to an NHL game.
Couture practiced Monday for roughly 30 minutes, but he doesn’t want to force a comeback.
“Stopping, starting, quick turning, explosiveness,” Couture said. “I know I’m not going to be 100 percent when I come back. That takes time. But I want to feel comfortable enough that I can get out there and help the team and contribute. I don’t want to be out there in the way.”
Couture said he has been talking to Mike Brown about his injury. Brown also had a broken right fibula, suffered last season, and missed almost four months.
“Just talk to him, ask him how he felt. Different things that have happened while skating, see if he felt the same thing,” Couture said. “It’s comforting to have someone who has gone through it.”
Defenseman Justin Braun took part in his first full practice since he was diagnosed with an elbow infection early last week. DeBoer said after practice that Braun will not play against the Penguins but believes the defenseman will “be back sooner rather than later.”
The Sharks play at Anaheim on Friday and host Tampa Bay on Saturday.
“From the doctors … they gave us a time frame that we want to stick to so we don’t get any kind of recurrence,” DeBoer said. “We’re going to stick to that.”
Antibiotics have significantly reduced the swelling in Braun’s elbow, although he still wore a little extra padding on the infected area for Monday’s practice.
Braun said he doesn’t feel any pain in the elbow. He has been talking to team doctors nearly every day and was scheduled for another hospital visit after practice.
Patrick Marleau will have his family on hand when he’s honored before Tuesday’s game for recording his 1,000th career point. Last season when former forward Martin St. Louis was honored for the same milestone, he received an engraved stick and a pingpong table with custom paddles from the New York Rangers.
What might Marleau get?
“I have no idea,” Marleau said. “It’ll be a surprise.”