On mended knee, Simek set to return to the lineup
SAN JOSE >> Say this about defenseman Radim Simek throughout his Sharks career: His timing has been impeccable.
Nearly a year after his insertion into the lineup helped turn the Sharks’ season around, Simek appears ready to try and do it again, as indications were Monday that he would be ready to return to the NHL after more than six months of rehabilitation on his surgically repaired right knee.
Simek returned from his conditioning assignment with the Barracuda on Monday morning and was a full participant in practice. If he feels good this morning, he’ll be back in the lineup for tonight’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks at SAP Center.
His return could provide a badly needed shot in the arm to a Sharks team that has lost five straight games and plummeted to the bottom of the Western Conference standings.
“He was an important piece for us last year. We missed him when he was out,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “You’re looking for any kind of spark right now and I think a quality player like that back in your lineup definitely gives you that.”
Simek, 27, played two AHL games with the Barracuda since he began his conditioning stint last week, including Sunday’s game against Tucson, and had two assists with a plus-two rating.
“I felt great on the ice,” the Czech Republic-born Simek said Monday. “I think I can take my play from Barracuda to Sharks.
“After first game, I was a little bit tired and my knee was a little bit tight. But today, because I played yesterday, today was great. I felt great on the ice during the practice. It was nice.”
The Sharks also recalled forward Lean Bergmann on Monday and sent back Jonny Brodzinski to the AHL.
The Sharks (4-10-1) have been outscored 22-8 in the last five games and entered Monday last in the 15-team Western Conference in terms of points percentage.
“I think it’s just good to see anybody come back,” said Brent Burns, Simek’s defense partner last season. “It’s always just a good energy and you’re happy for somebody else. You’ve seen the work that they put in, and how much they’ve done to get back, and it’s always nice. Always good to see.”
Simek hasn’t played an NHL game since he suffered torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments and damaged his meniscus in a Sharks game against the Winnipeg Jets in March. He had surgery later that month and had a follow-up procedure in June to clean out the knee, which eliminated any chance of a return for the start of training camp.
Before his conditioning assignment, he had been skating regularly with the Sharks and was with the team on the early portion of their road trip last month against
Atlantic Division teams.
“It wasn’t easy in training,” Simek said. “It was my MCL, ACL and meniscus. My knee was almost all broken, but now I can play hockey. I’m feeling good on the ice and I’m ready. I’m ready to play for Sharks again.”
Last Dec. 2 after a fourgame losing streak dropped the Sharks’ record to 12-105, Simek replaced Joakim Ryan as Burns’ defense partner in the lineup. He quickly became a vital part of the Sharks’ defense corps, as he added an assertive and physical dimension to a team that was often lacking defensive structure.
When Simek was in the lineup, the Sharks went 29-9-3. In 41 games, Simek had nine points, was a plusseven and averaged 15 minutes and 13 seconds of ice time per game.
The Sharks had allowed 88 goals up until that point, or 3.26 per game. In the 43 games that followed, with Simek dressing for all but two, the Sharks allowed 126 goals, or 2.93 per outing. The Sharks were also at the top of the Pacific Division on the morning of March 13 with a 43-19-8 record.
This season in 15 games, the Sharks are allowing an average of 3.73 goals per game during 5-on-5 play, fourth-worst in the NHL. They are also 27th in the NHL at 5-on-5 scoring, averaging 2.40 goals per game.
DeBoer said he’ll wait to see how much ice time Simek can handle right away. As of Monday, DeBoer had not decided who he would pair Simek with on the back end.
“There’s a simplicity to his game that I think helps us and some of the guys that we have on the ice with him,” DeBoer said. “He’s firm, he’s direct, he’s quick in his reads, he’s aggressive in his reads. There’s no hesitation, there’s no wondering who’s going here. Is it him or is it me?
“He’s pushing you out of the way to go and I think guys on the ice like playing with guys like that because it takes some indecision out of the game.”
Simek said he got past any mental hurdles he had about his knee fairly early in his conditioning assignment, delivering a big hit in a game against Bakersfield to put his mind at ease.
”I was good for my head,” Simek said of the hit. “First game, first shift.”
The physical dimension that Simek can bring may help address what DeBoer has called some soft play by the Sharks since the start of the season. DeBoer watched Sunday’s Barracuda game at SAP Center first-hand and liked what he saw.
“I wasn’t watching him from a technical or even a puck (moving) point of view. I wanted to see how he was moving,” DeBoer said. “That’s the biggest thing coming off of a knee injury. Did he turn and explode to the puck without any hesitation in his legs? That’s what I was looking for and I didn’t see any.”