Islanders Maggio Honest About Injuries, How He's Powering Through
New York Islanders prospect Matthew Maggio had himself some first-ever preseason game back on Tuesday night against the New York Rangers. Here's how he's recovering.
New York Islanders prospect Matthew Maggio had himself some first-ever preseason game back on Tuesday night against the New York Rangers.
Besides notching a point -- a secondary assist on William Dufour's power-play goal -- he also collected a broken nose after an elbow and some knee pain following a brutal knee-on-knee collision.
"The knee feels fine. The nose, just got to battle with the breathing," Maggio told The Hockey News Sunday morning. "My roommate was getting a little pissed at me because I was snoring too much."
Injuries are a part of the sport, and with training camp winding down, Maggio had to find a way to overcome his injuries and prove to Lane Lambert and the rest of the coaching staff that he can help the hockey club.
While physically, Maggio feels much better, there are certainly some mental boundaries that he needed to deal with, swiftly.
"Maybe like the first day or two [the injuries affected me],
Maggio said. "I think there was just a little fear of going into the corner.
"You're kind of thinking twice, not really trusting yourself. So I think I'm over that hurdle now. And yeah, obviously, you got to know that it's still there. It's gonna hurt, but I think I'm pretty past it now."
THN asked Maggio if he's ever been involved in a hit like that.
"I've got blown up a few times. Think that might be one of the worst... no, I've had one that took me out for a week," Maggio said. "This one, I kind of got lucky. He kind of hit me in a place where I had my padding on the equipment, so I got pretty lucky. Didn't end up hurting too bad."
Last season, we saw Simon Holmstrom take a nasty knee-on-knee courtesy of Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett. He needed to be helped off the ice, and he told us afterward that he didn't watch the hit.
Maggio did.
"My buddy sent me it. I think everyone was checking up on me and wanted to see if I was okay," Maggio said. "So I saw it a few times. I mean, there wasn't a ton I could really do. I tried to get out of the way but didn't really have the puck or anything. So it's not really one that you can kind of avoid and just bad luck."
Maggio is not slated to participate in Monday's preseason game against the New Jersey Devils, but the hope is that he gets into another one later in the week.
The Islanders are in Philadelphia to face the Flyers Thursday night before hosting the Devils for their preseason finale Friday night at UBS Arena.
If Maggio does get into another game, he wants to continue to get more comfortable with the speed of NHL hockey.
"I think the thing that I've talked about with the coaches and management here is just adjusting to the pace of the game and getting more comfortable every game," Maggio said. "So, I think throughout camp, I have become more comfortable with the puck and knowing the plays that are going to work at this level.
"So I think definitely, like even playing in that scrimmage after the game, you can kind of see that it slowed down a bit for you, kind of understanding what plays are going to work. So I think it's kind of just showcasing a little bit more of that stuff with the puck, but the main thing is they want to see my energy and my motor. playing with high energy, and that's what's gonna propel me to try to make the team."
