Tkachuk says Roman Josi reached out to him after the game against Nashville last week.
For the first time since injuring his thumb nine days ago, Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk held court with the media on Wednesday. He spoke about his surgery to repair a ligament that was completely torn after a bad cross-check by Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi, a foul that could have been labelled several other things, like interference or boarding.
The incident occurred during the first period of the Sens' October 13 game against the Nashville Predators as Josi's unexpected cross-check from behind awkwardly propelled Tkachuk into the end boards. He tried to play the rest of the game, but finally shut it down halfway through the third. The Sens went on to lose that game, and they lost three of the next four (1-2-1) after that.
Tkachuk recalled the exact moment he realized his injury was something serious.
"Yeah, I remember I had that partial breakaway," Tkachuk said. "And usually, on any given day, I'm very confident. And I knew right when I shot it, it was a complete muffin."
Tkachuk says after that, the pain bothered him every time he touched the puck to the point where he couldn't hold onto his stick anymore. The following day, he began speaking with doctors about the next steps and eventually decided on the surgery. Tkachuk says his surgeon in New York is pleased with the early progress.
"Yeah, I mean, they fully repaired the ligament," Tkachuk said. "I think it was fully torn and re-stabilized the joint. So I think I was under for a nice little two-hour nap. So I was pretty fired up about that. But yeah, it was good. They said it went awesome, it went very smoothly. I went to New York yesterday for a check-up and they're very happy with how it went."
The early prognosis after the surgery was six to eight weeks of recovery time, but Tkachuk says it's too early to target a specific return date. At the moment, he isn't worried about his legs or conditioning; his return will be more dependent on when the thumb can safely handle stickhandling and shooting.
This is the first time in his career that Tkachuk will be out of the lineup for this long. He says today was the first day he's been able to start physically doing some things.
"I feel like that's gonna keep me sane," Tkachuk said. "Whenever the guys are playing, and you're not playing, it's all you wanna do is be out there and go to battle with them, and help them out. And so that's probably been the toughest part, not being able to be around in those moments."
After the incident, Tkachuk wasn't at all happy with Josi, but to his credit, the veteran defenseman did reach out.
"Yeah, he did, he texted me. I feel like it was nice of him to do that. Of course, he didn't have to. And yeah, it's part of the game. Stuff like that happens."
So the Senators carry on without their leader for now, hoping they can hold the fort until his return. But after losing four of their last five games without him, one thing is clear: the absence of Brady Tkachuk in Ottawa sticks out like his sore thumb.
More Sens headlines at the Hockey News Ottawa:
Senators Surprisingly Send Merilainen to Belleville After One Start
Travis Green Offers Blunt Criticism After Disappointing Islanders Loss
Tkachuk Has Successful Thumb Surgery And Will Miss 6-8 Weeks
Sens Call Up Kaliyev As Tkachuk Goes On IR
Senators Lose Sebrango, Claimed Off Waivers By Florida
An Early Glance At The Senators' Goaltending Pipeline