Arizona Coyotes forward Brad Richardson shared some good news this week.
After suffering a broken fibula and tibia in a collision with former Canucks’ defenseman Nikita Tryamkin last November, undergoing surgery the next day, and a long road to recovery, the 32-year-old forward expects to be ready for training camp when it begins next month.
“If training camp started tomorrow I’d be out there,” Richardson told the Coyotes website. “I feel night-and-day different than I did four months ago.”
There seemed to be nothing malicious about the collision involving the much larger Tryamkin, but Richardson was in immediate pain, signalling for the training staff. He was taken off the ice on a stretcher.
He recalled, in rather vivid detail, what he remembered about the incident, including an ominous reaction from a fan.
“When I think about that night it’s hard,” said Richardson.
“I kind of get hot and sweaty when I do because the pain was so unbelievable. When it happened I knew it was really bad right away. I could feel my leg snap. But I can still see that fan in the crowd and see his face vividly. His expression was like ‘Oh my God!’ and I remember thinking ‘Oh boy, I’m in trouble.’ Even though I knew it was pretty bad, that fan’s face summed up just how bad it really was.”