SAN JOSE – There was a time earlier this fall when San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture wondered whether his professional career was over at 34 years old.
“I can honestly say two months ago, I would wake up and didn’t know if I was ever going to play in the NHL again,” Couture said Tuesday in his first public comments since the start of camp in mid-September. “It’s something that I thought of many, many days.”
Couture, out with an unspecified lower-body injury since before training camp, endured two setbacks in his attempted recovery. The most recent one was in late October when he was forced him off the ice for about a month, after he started to ramp up his on-ice conditioning and appeared to be getting closer to a return.
“When you’re injured, your mind does some crazy things. There are some crazy thoughts,” Couture said of the mental challenges he faced. “This is my life, and this is what I love to do, and your body doesn’t allow you to do it.”
Couture has had to miss significant time before in his previous 14 years in the NHL, most recently in 2020 when he fractured his ankle in a game against the St. Louis Blues. In Oct. 2015, Couture suffered a fractured fibula at the ankle in practice and needed surgery before he was able to return roughly two months later.
The difference this year is that Couture still doesn’t have a clear idea of when he can play again, having to take each day as it comes.
Mentally, that took a toll.
“That was the toughest part, the unknown,” Couture said. “The waking up one day and feeling good, then waking up the next day and feeling really crappy. Just not knowing there was no light at the end of the tunnel. There was no timeline set, just kind of a week-by-week, day-by-day thing.
“Finally knock on wood everything continues to go well and I’m over that hump and things can continue to trend to me getting back to practicing with the guys.”
Couture still hasn’t played this season and there remains no specific timeline for him to rejoin the Sharks for a practice or a game. But he said his physical and mental health is in a better place now than at any point in the last two-plus months.
After about a month off the ice, Couture’s been skating with Sharks development coach Mike Ricci for over a week without any issues. On Tuesday, Couture went on the ice and pushed a little harder, and will now wait to see how his body responds before he and the Sharks’ medical staff decide on the next step.
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“At the start, I was trying to do everything I could to get in the lineup,” Couture said. “But ultimately, just taking some time off, resting and rehabbing, was what was going to get me back healthy.
“I’m at the point now where I’m back on the ice skating, albeit just with (Ricci) there, but it’s the first step in trying to get back with the guys here.”
Please check back for updates to this story.
