SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture said Monday he wants to return before the end of the regular season after he suffered a recurrence of the debilitating lower-body injury that cost him the first 45 games of the year.
Injured before the start of training camp in September, Couture was diagnosed with osteitis pubis. After months of grueling rehabilitation, he made his season debut for the Sharks on Jan. 20 at home against Anaheim.
But Couture said he started to feel some discomfort almost right away, and after six games — a stretch that ended with a Jan. 31 overtime loss to the Ducks – the 34-year-old center said he knew something wasn’t right.
Couture said as he started playing in games again, the injury crept back in again and after that game in Anaheim, added that he didn’t feel good “for a couple of days again. Yeah, it got it got pretty bad.”
Couture also endured setbacks from the injury in the fall when he was trying to get back to playing games, and wondered at that time whether he would be able to play in the NHL again.
Coutures’ mood wasn’t much better this time.
“I was devastated. It sucked,” Couture said.
“I thought it was past it. But like I said, as I started to play a little bit more, got more sore and more sore and more sore,” he added. “Even on days where I didn’t skate and off days, it was getting worse.
“It’s never a good sign. I woke up and couldn’t get out of bed, couldn’t move for a bit. I knew what it was, obviously, this time, but it definitely wasn’t much easier.”
Couture said he continues to see a San Francisco-based physiotherapist. and is at the point now where he’s “just trying to get back to feeling good away from hockey and day-to-day life stuff.”
Couture said he resumed off-ice workouts roughly two weeks ago but as of now, he has no timeline to skate again. He said he has not entertained any thoughts of having surgery.
The Sharks, all but mathematically eliminated from playoff contention with a 15-36-5 record going into Tuesday’s game against the New Jersey Devils, have just 26 games remaining before the end of the regular season on April 18.
Asked if he has considered shutting himself down for the remainder of the regular season to get ready for camp in the fall, Couture said, “That thought hasn’t crossed my mind.
“Just trying to feel better every day when I wake up and come in and get some work done, see how I feel when I go home,” Couture said. “It’s just kind of a day-by-day thing right now.”
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