Passion still burns for Senators’ winger
Clarke MacArthur knows people are wondering why he doesn’t just retire because of the risks involved with return from a concussion.
He can’t do it right now mainly because he feels good.
“I fully understand the 50% of people — or more — who have reached out and told me, ‘Maybe you should stop playing’. I still have a passion for the game and if I felt at all that I was a little slower, the thought process wasn’t there, my moods were different or anything ... If I felt anything, I would consider that, but I just don’t,” MacArthur told Postmedia on Sunday.
“I feel as though I could play. I felt how I did two years ago before this (happened). Everything keeps coming back around and I just feel like I want to try to continue to do it. I’m going to work out the rest of the year and see how things are the rest of the season.”
MacArthur said he does need to know before he leaves for the summer if it’s worth it to come to camp so he hopes to take the baseline test again.
“If there’s no opportunity to play again ... it’s really hard to train the way we do for four or five months to have no opportunity,” MacArthur said. “I don’t think I can put myself through that again. I’ve done that for the last couple of years and there will be a day where I’ve got to write the exam again.
“That will be the make or break when I decide to do it again. If you don’t get past the test the next time it’d be really hard to convince any doctor or yourself that you can do it.”
If he does come back, can he still contribute?
“That’s the question of the day for everyone,” he said. “I feel I can get back to the level I was at and I have to believe that if I want to have a chance at it. Who knows? Those questions were looming over me all summer.”
MacArthur is good at keeping all this in perspective.
“In real life, we have friends with kids that are sick and people getting laid off from jobs, those people go through hell, so it’s hard to put it on that level,” he said.
“In hockey terms, it’s been tough. In real life, I’ve got two good kids and a great wife. Life’s been pretty good minus being able to play.”