FOR SENS’ MacARTHUR, RETIREMENT CAN WAIT
Four concussions in the last 18 months haven’t dulled his passion for pro hockey
Clarke MacArthur has returned to the ice at the Canadian Tire Centre because he’s not ready to shut the door, throw in the towel or extinguish the fire that burns deep inside to pull on his No. 16 jersey again.
Unable to get clearance to return to play in January four months after he suffered his fourth concussion in the last 18 months in training camp, the 31-year-old MacArthur travelled to Fort Myers, Fla., to give retirement a shot.
In the first interview since he was denied clearance to play, MacArthur told Postmedia News on Sunday that as hard as he tried, he couldn’t walk away — and that’s why he’s back to see if he can resume his career. But as far as the team is concerned, he won’t be back this season.
“I basically, in all honesty, went to Florida to try and retire,” MacArthur said. “If I go out in Florida, no one cares about hockey — I thought this would make it easier to get away from it. That worked for about the first week. I thought the whole week that I had convinced myself to move on and do something different. I didn’t know what to do or where I was going with it, but I was just trying to check myself out of hockey.
“By the second week, I was like, ‘I’m going to start going to the gym again,’ and by the third week I was talking with (strength coach) Chris Schwarz and he was emailing me workouts, and by the fourth week I was looking at flights to come back. My plan of retiring didn’t last very long.”
MacArthur was back skating with injured teammates Bobby Ryan and Chris Neil last week while the Senators were on the road with the ultimate goal of playing his first game since he suffered a concussion on Oct. 14, 2015, against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
MacArthur was so close in January, plans were in place for him to play. After a baseline test, he was prepared to suit up Jan. 21 against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. Instead, on Jan. 20, Senators general manager Pierre Dorion told the media MacArthur wouldn’t play this year.
“Anyone that’s out puts a lot more work in than the guys playing because you’re missing the games and you always have to go that extra distance,” MacArthur said. “To do that and to get where I felt as good a shape as I’ve ever been in and to get to that news, it crushed me.
“I was really upset, frustrated, and you’re wondering, ‘How did this happen?’ Not just the hit in camp, but the string of events over the last couple of years. For a person who loves to play and wants to play, how did this happen?
“That’s just part of life. At the end of the day, there’s a reason things happen and that’s not just in hockey. It doesn’t make sense at the time, but you have to deal with it.”
As difficult as that has been for MacArthur, everybody knows it’s hard to keep a good man down. When he met with Dorion and athletic therapist Gerry Townend, neither told him to hang up his skates.
“I talked with Pierre and Gerry when I first found out. Both guys, you get in a room with them and you know something is wrong. Pierre cares about his players like he would his kids,” MacArthur said. “He was upset, as I was. I remember both of them saying, ‘This is an awful time, but it’s not over and it’s only over if you want it to be over.’ They gave me the option to do whatever I needed to do for myself, which was great…
“As far as me asking to leave town for a bit, it was never a question — ‘Whatever you need to do to feel better’. I got all the support from them.”
At this point, the best approach is to just see what happens.
“I have the love (of ) the game and want to keep playing,” MacArthur said. “The scary part is, ‘Did you do everything you could to try and get back?’ If you did and you still can’t get back, then I can live with that — or I’ll have a chance to live with that. But if I leave a stone unturned or don’t check every avenue or do everything I can, then it’ll be hard to live with for me. I know that. That’s why I’m back here and that’s why I’m doing this. I know I have a hole me in that I just need to fill.” Does he think he’ll play again? “Deep down, I think I will. Deep down I think I’m going to pull the jersey on again,” said MacArthur, the father of daughter Emery, 4, and son Gus, 2.
“That’s going to be someday when that comes.”