Golden Knights Jack Eichel opens up about the fears and relief of this season Sometimes I pinch myself – The Athletic

On the day of his neck surgery, Nov. 12, 2021, Jack Eichel walked into the Rocky Mountain Spine Clinic alone. Due to COVID-19 restrictions at the time, Eichel could not be accompanied by family members when he entered the clinic located in Lone Tree, Colorado, a small municipality just south of Denver.

I had never had surgery before, so youre obviously nervous before surgery, Eichel said. I got into Denver and had dinner with my parents that night. You wake up the next morning and youre just going to the surgery center, and well, here we are.

I went in by myself, and I was just sitting in the room and didnt really have anyone there. The nurses were obviously great, but when youre in that situation youre just like, Hey, this is pretty real now.

Surgery of any kind can be distressing. For Eichel, he was the first NHL player to ever undergo artificial disc replacement surgery to repair a herniated disk in his neck. It required an eight-month battle with the Buffalo Sabres over which surgery would be performed, followed by a trade to the Vegas Golden Knights and months of rehabilitation that followed the surgery. But on Feb. 16, 2022, Eichel stepped back onto NHL ice for the first time in nearly a year, finally able to do what he loves most once again.

In doing so, Eichel displayed dedication to the sport, made a stand for the medical rights of players around the NHL and opened a new door of possibilities for players needing similar surgeries moving forward. For all of those reasons, Eichel is the Las Vegas chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Associations nominee for the 2022 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.

The Masterton Trophy is awarded by the PHWA annually to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey.

Eichel initially suffered the herniated disc while playing for Buffalo on March 7, 2021, but after initial evaluations, the Sabres wanted Eichel to have disc-fusion surgery, rather than the artificial disc replacement option preferred by Eichel and his camp.

Obviously, I wanted to look at how I am going to sustain my career and be as least invasive to myself, Eichel said, explaining his thought process when debating which type of surgery would be best for his situation. I looked at it as fusion was going to change me permanently. With disc replacement, theres still some major change that youre doing, but youre just kind of swapping a herniated disc for a prosthesis, and your neck looks the same as it did before.

Fusing the discs has long been the more popular option of the two, but through Eichels research and help from surgeons, he discovered that ADR not approved until 2009 was the newest trend, had a much shorter recovery process and could potentially provide better long-term results.

You also look at the long-term benefits, Eichel said. Theres a lot that goes into it. It was a decision that I considered everything. If you just look at the numbers of medicine right now, the disc replacements are rising so quickly and fusions are starting to decimate. Medicine is always changing. The way we do things is always changing and I thought this was the best option for me.

The Sabres werent as comfortable with the surgery that had yet to be performed on an NHL player, and because the leagues collective bargaining agreement gives teams the final say over player recovery, Buffalo used its authority to decline Eichels preferred operation.

Its a disagreement that may happen more than we know, but most players dont have the leverage that Eichel did as the Sabres captain and one of the most talented players in the world. For players just hoping to make NHL rosters, holding their ground in a similar dispute with the team isnt much of an option. And while Eichel didnt hold his ground with the intention of paving the way for future hockey players to potentially have control own recoveries, he may have done so unintentionally.

As of now, nothing has changed in the wording of the CBA, but the next time its negotiated, the rule will be a topic of discussion due to the public nature of Eichels battle with Buffalo.

There have been guys that reached out, whether it was over the summer or after the surgery, that were just happy that I was standing my ground, Eichel said. They expressed their frustration with what I was going through and some of the hoops I had to jump through. It was good. Its always nice to have support from your peers.

In the meantime, Eichels successful ADR surgery set an immediate example. He underwent the procedure and was out of the clinic enjoying dinner with his parents that same night.

Id be lying to say that I wasnt nervous, Eichel said. Youd be surprised by how smooth everything went, and how well I felt after the surgery.

Eichel continued his recovery process in Charlotte, N.C., where he worked with Dr. Mark Lindsay for several weeks. Less than two weeks after his procedure, Eichel received a call from Chicago Blackhawks forward Tyler Johnson, who was also considering the surgery.

He just wanted to pick my brain on the whole process of why I came to the conclusion that I did, Eichel said. It was a good conversation. He had a lot of similar questions that I did, and I hope that some of the information that I gave him helped him make a decision.

Jack Eichel helped out a lot, doing a lot of that for me as well, Johnson said on March 6 after undergoing ADR surgery. I wouldnt say it was talking a lot, but probably two or three phone calls that lasted a little while. He was unbelievable in the whole process, even post-opt kind of explaining to me what he was doing recovery-wise and what his plans were going forward so we could kind of put things together. We had different doctors, but pretty much the same timelines. It was kind of nice having somebody else that was going through it at the same time as me to be able to lean on and say, Hey, did you have this? Or, Did you feel this? Or, What can you/cant you do? type of thing. So its been great.

Being the first to do anything can be a terrifying proposition. Eichels leap of faith may spark a new trend when it comes to repairing herniated discs. At the very least, it helped Johnson get back on the ice in just over four months.

When asked if he wouldve opted for the ADR over fusion if it wasnt for Eichel, Johnson said, Thats kind of a tough question because I think the first doctor I spoke to kind of had that on the last-resort type of thing. So I probably would have been leaning the other way a little bit more, just from that initial talk. But as I started to ask more and more doctors about it, got more and more information on it, had some friends luckily in Florida that are spine surgeons, I was able to talk to them about it. That kind of led me a lot more to the ADR. I dont know if it would have changed anything, but I guess it really did help me know that hes done a lot more research than I did. He spent roughly a year or whatnot learning about it. It made me feel a little bit better in that sense.

Eichel made his return to game action only three months after his surgery and has been the Golden Knights leading scorer in the 31 games since. Directly following an 11-month absence, on a new team for the first time in his career, Eichel has 12 goals and nine assists for Vegas. More than anything, hes grateful to be back on the ice, spending his days in NHL dressing rooms and doing what he loves for a living.

I think when you have it taken away from you, sometimes you can take it for granted how lucky we are to play in the NHL, Eichel said. It might sound cliche, but its an honor just to be able to come to the rink every day and play hockey. Sometimes I pinch myself when I think, This is what I have to do today.

Not only did Eichel display dedication to the sport and his fellow players, but the entire process strengthened his love for the game.

Im constantly reminding myself how lucky I am just to be playing again, he said. I always look up at the crowd during the national anthem and think how lucky I am to be playing in front of these sold-out arenas, in front of all these fans that came to see you play. Its great to be doing it again.

(Photo of Jack Eichel: Christopher Mast / NHLI via Getty Images)

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Golden Knights Jack Eichel opens up about the fears and relief of this season Sometimes I pinch myself - The Athletic