POIRIER BACK IN ACTION AFTER FOUR-MONTH LAYOFF
Flames prospect nearly had career derailed by nasty skate cut four games into season
You can't help but cringe as you hear the details of the scary injury that cost defence prospect Jeremie Poirier four-plus months of game action, a nasty skate cut that his coach had initially feared could derail his bright future with the Calgary Flames.
As Trent Cull, bench boss for the AHL'S Wranglers, told reporters at the Saddledome this past weekend: “Seeing that happen live, we didn't talk too much about it, but I was really worried for the young man. I didn't know if he was going to play again.”
Poirier was, at the time, off to a scorching start to the season.
He'd piled up seven points in his first three games with the Flames' farm team this fall.
In his fourth, an Oct. 21 clash against the Abbotsford Canucks, the 21-year-old was chasing an opponent through the neutral zone.
“I lost a step on him, so I was diving to swat the puck away,” Poirier said. “And it's hard to remember exactly what happened because everything happened so fast afterwards, it was a little bit of a mess, but I think the guy tried to step over me and stepped directly on my arm.
“After the play, I didn't really feel anything because it cut through a lot of my wrist/arm. I tried to pick up my stick and that's when I kind of knew that it was over, that I couldn't keep playing.”
As it turns out, he wouldn't be playing for a long while. When blood started to soak through his jersey, the level of alarm was cranked. Surgery was required to repair the damage.
Poirier, who is considered Calgary's best blueline prospect and has the offensive chops to some day be quarterbacking the top power-play unit, finally returned to action Sunday with the Wranglers.
His comeback continued Tuesday in a road date against the Tucson Roadrunners.
“We're happy for him, because you never know with those type of injuries,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “He was doing everything right — he had the proper equipment on — and it was just a bad luck situation, so it's nice to see him get back on the ice again.
“And probably more so for him. You think of the grind that a guy has to go through every day to get him back into position to play. When you're working things back like he had to, you spend a lot of time with our trainers. I'm sure he was sick of them and they were sick of him. So it's nice to see him back on the ice.
“I didn't think he would be playing until a little further down the road, so good on him, because that just means that he's put in the effort and the time to get better.”
He definitely did that.
There were early morning rehab sessions. There were specialized workouts — a lot of leg days — and solo skates. There were regular trips to a hand therapist in Marda Loop.
“I'd say the past four months were really challenging — physically obviously with the injury and all the process I've been through, and then mentally with being away from everyone and going to the rink every morning by yourself to do all that rehab,” said Poirier, who missed 47 games. “But I think it was a good, challenging experience for me and helped me grow as a player, as a person. I think there's positive in everything. So just try to get a little positive out of that and come back stronger.
“I think for me, my mindset was just every day come with a purpose and try to get back as quick as I can, because at the end of the day, that's what I do is play hockey. I wanted to play hockey as quick as I can. So for me, my mindset was just to come to the rink every day, have a purpose, get better and then when the time comes, be ready.”
Poirier's return comes at an important time for the Wranglers, who were sitting fourth in the AHL'S Pacific Division in points percentage as they arrived in Tucson for a two-game set.
It also opens the possibility that he could log his NHL debut before the end of the 2023-24 campaign. During his layoff, he watched a few of his blueline buddies be summoned for bigleague auditions.
Named last winter to the AHL'S all-rookie team, the Flames would presumably like to reward Poirier with his first nibble of NHL action. As they start this retool, it would be helpful to have a clearer sense of how close, or how ready, he might be. His offensive upside is intriguing — proof of his silky mitts, he is perfect on four career shootout attempts in the AHL — but his ETA will be determined by his ability to defend.
“I think your chance is going to come when it comes,” Poirier said. “I always have a mentality of, `Just go out there and play, and my play is my going to talk for itself.'
“I'm a gamer. I love to play games. That's where I shine the most, I feel like. That's when the show is, when game time starts. So when you don't play for four or four-and-a-half months like that ... you come to every single game and watch from up top and you just feel like you don't do much. It's almost like you're not part of the team, a little bit, any more when it's been so long away from it.
I think it was a good, challenging experience for me and helped me grow as a player, as a person. I think there’s positive in everything.
“You still want to be around the guys as much as you can. It's hard when the guys are going on the road and you have to stay home. But I think if you stay involved with the guys, still talk with the guys, watch the games and stuff, you can stay involved a little bit. But for sure, I've missed the part where you step out there and the puck drops and it's actually game time.”