Dougie's Big Step
Dougie Hamilton took part in his first team practice since suffering a lower-body injury March 4 at Dallas. Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe ruled Hamilton out for Sunday afternoon’s game against the NY Islanders, but said it was a big step forward.
“It was great to see him out there. It’s an important step in his rehab process,” Keefe said. “He ended up doing a bit more than we anticipated, which is a positive sign that he was feeling good. Very encouraging. We’ll just have to take it from here. How he feels post-skate and how he feels tomorrow is going to be a big indicator of where he’s at.”
Hamilton is just taking everything step by step.
“Just day by day, so just try to keep getting better one day at a time,” Hamilton said. “See where I’m at whenever I’m ready. I’ll work as hard as I can every day (until then), do it the next day again.”
Hamilton has missed past 16 games for his club and will miss 17 after Sunday. With two games remaining in the regular season after Sunday, the Devils would love to get Hamilton in for one of those final two contests. However, they don’t want to rush the process.
“Ideally it would be nice to get into a game,” Keefe said, “but you aren’t going to rush a guy back that would benefit from some extra time and extra practices for that reason, especially a veteran like Dougie. That’ll really be up to him and the medical team. I’ll just respond as needed.”
Hamilton had been skating on his own for the past few days. Joining his teammates was certainly a nice change for him. He did full participation, including line rushes and power play.
“It was awesome,” he said. “I’m trying my best to get back and be with the guys and help the team.”
Hamilton knew immediately that there was an issue when he suffered the injury in Dallas.
“I felt it right away. I knew. I was hoping it wasn’t too bad,” he said. “Unfortunately, it was worse than I had hoped and here we are.”
Hamilton has missed a lot of games over the past few seasons with the Devils due to various injuries. And with every injury comes the long road of rehab and recovery.
“You have good days, bad days. Try to stay levelheaded,” he said. “Not get too far ahead, too excited, too down. We have great staff here that’s very helpful in these situations. Hopefully I can keep going, feel good and help the team soon.”
The best part of being back at practice is just being around the team. Instead of working on a rehab schedule where you sometimes aren’t around your teammates for days or weeks.
“It’s really hard. Just not being there with the guys. Wins, losses, going through it,” he said. “You don’t really feel a part of it. I definitely miss that and miss competing, being out there. I’ve dealt with some stuff before, so I’ve learned. But you have to be patient, work as hard as you can and take it day by day.”
