San Jose Shark’s Logan Couture feared that his NHL career was over earlier in the season.
“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,” the San Jose Sharks captain said. “It’s something that I thought of many, many days.”
The center spoke with the press Tuesday for the first time since before training camp. He has not played this season due to a lower-body injury.
“That was the toughest part, the unknown, Couture said. “… Waking up one day and feeling good, then waking up the next day and feeling really [lousy], just not knowing. There was no light at the end of the tunnel.”
Couture has been rehabilitating the injury but had setbacks, which caused him to question his future.
It is not the first time Couture has been absent during his 14-season career with San Jose. During the 2019-20 season, he was slowed down by a broken ankle. Five seasons earlier, he broke his fibula. Couture missed 30 matches in each of those seasons.
This time, there is no set time for when he will return, according to the Sharks. Logan is skating on his own but has not rejoined them.
Couture reports that he is finally starting to feel confident about playing this season.
“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 said.
Logan was terribly missed at the beginning of the season, when the Sharks lost their first 11 fixtures (0-10-1 record), tied for the slowest start by any team in NHL history. San Jose was not scoring and could not keep the puck of its net, and for a while it looked like it might be in competition for the worst season in franchise history.
“Seeing the guys after some of those games, they wore it, and there’s not much you can do from the sidelines,” Couture said. “You can only play cheerleader so much and add your two cents to certain plays, but I wasn’t on the ice.
“When I’m playing and someone’s telling me what I should be doing differently, it goes in one ear sometimes and out the other.”
But since they conceded 10 goals in consecutive matches against the Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 2 and 4, leading to a meeting with general manager Mike Grier, the Sharks have turned their season around.
From the beginning of December through matches Monday, no NHL team had scored more goals per game than San Jose (5.20). Its top two centers have played a significant role; Mikael Granlund has 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in his past eight games, and Tomas Hertl has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in his past eight.
The Sharks just concluded a 3-2-1 road trip that featured dramatic comeback victories against the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings, and a near come-from-behind win over the Vegas Golden Knights. They lost 5-4 in a clash with the Golden Knights on Sunday after they trailed by two goals late in the third period.
“It’s so rewarding now for these guys to play the way that they are,” Couture said. “That road trip was awesome to watch … very proud of a lot of those guys, the way they’ve continued to battle through a lot of adversity, a lot of injuries.
“Even that Vegas game we lost four or five guys throughout that game, and I thought we played better than Vegas did. Pretty impressive,” Couture said.
Now it is only a matter of when Couture can return. He said he is headed in the right direction.
“I’m proud of the work I’ve put in to get to where I’m at, and I’ve had some great help in that medical room in there,” Couture said. “We’ve reached out to a lot of people in the Bay Area who have helped me, and I feel good right now.”
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