Blues Defenseman Admitted, "It Was A Long Journey, A Lot Of Lonely Nights At Times"

ST. LOUIS -- Being part of the NHL as long as Nick Leddy has, injuries seem inevitable.

If one is lucky enough, there will be minor bumps and bruises that get tagged with training camp, a couple preseason games, an 82-game regular-season schedule and if one's fortunate enough, an extended postseason.

Leddy, soon to be 34, has been part of it all, from playing lengthy seasons to a lasting career and extended postseason runs. There's been the injury here or there but never quite like this latest one.

When he departed the lineup Oct. 15 against the Minnesota Wild, the left-handed D-man never imagined it would be 113 days, or nearly four months, before Leddy would see a competitive NHL game again.

"Oh no. No, no, no," Leddy insisted. "I think the most games I've ever missed in a season was probably 12. This was definitely a big life experience and I learned a lot. I'll take that and move on."

The Blues said Leddy had a lower-body injury and that he would be day to day. It eventually turned into week to week, what's believed to be a nerve issue that affected areas of his upper body.

There were multiple attempts at returning to form, gaining traction through off ice workouts to practice time, including accompanying the team on road trips thinking he was on the cusp of playing again. But to no avail.

Until now.

This time was different when Leddy, who until Tuesday's 3-2 overtime loss against the Edmonton Oilers, had played in just four games. Tuesday was No. 5 after missing 49 games.

"It's (been) frustrating, but I'm very thankful and grateful to be back playing," Leddy said. "It was a long journey, a lot of lonely nights at times but having these guys pick me up when I got to see them and just to be around the guys again was great."

There were even murmurs of potentially the injury Leddy was dealing with being career-threatening, which he shot down.

"I don't know about that," he said.

Leddy was a minus-2 in the 4-1 loss against the Wild on Oct. 15 and for someone who always has been a smooth skater, something was off. He wouldn't use it as an excuse.

"Don't really care to go into specifics, but it was a little bit of an annoying thing," Leddy said. "Just when you thought it would be a little better, took a step back.

"It started in the Minnesota game. I felt it in the morning and then after the game, it progressively got worse."

To the point where days turned into weeks, suddenly into months, nearly four of them.

Leddy, with 1,016 games worth of NHL experience to now five the Blues three with 1,000-plus games (Ryan Suter at 1,498 and Cam Fowler at 1,015), finally trended in a positive light in the days leading up to the last road trip against the Colorado Avalanche and Utah Hockey Club, so much so that he was finally taking contact.

"I thought in the last week I was trending in the right way," Leddy said. "Getting the good news from the specialists to take contact, this was kind of the target game."

Leddy played 15:27 on Tuesday and partnered with Suter.

"I thought the first period, his timing was a little bit off and you could expect that," Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. "We're playing against one of the fastest teams in the league. I thought his poise, his understanding how to handle rush defense and how run kill plays and be in the right position to break up plays and lead us to offensive transition I think was very evident."

Leddy said, "It was fast. The first period I just tried to keep things simple. It was fast obviously. They're a fast team in general. But it was good. As the game went on, it slowed down and tried to make some more plays."

It had to feel good to be normal again for Leddy, who admitted he needed a support group to help through those lonely nights.

"The guys in this locker room, friends, family, being able to lean on them," Leddy said. "Just have them be as positive around me as they were. Just great people."

Colton Parayko has been a steady partner with Leddy the past couple seasons, said, "Obviously a great player. Just good to have him in the locker room, great presence and been around a long time. Skates really well, thinks the game really well. Just good to see him back there again."

After so many hits that turned into misses, Leddy played a game, and it had to feel good. And he doesn't believe anything will be recurring, which is a relief.

"I think I'm past it," Leddy said.