Klejna hopes for early playoff return
BRAMPTON, Ont. – Injured right winger Michal Klejna has his sights set on returning to the Brampton Battalion’s lineup for the Ontario Hockey League playoffs.
Klejna tore the medial collateral ligament in his left knee when he was hit by the Guelph Storm’s Jamie Arniel in a 2-1 road loss Feb. 23. Klejna missed the Troops’ final eight regular-season games but hopes to be back for the road opener of a best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal against the Barrie Colts on Saturday night.
“I’m practising, but I’m not sure when I’ll be back,” Klejna, a 19-year-old Slovakian import, said Wednesday.
“It’s still sore sometimes. We still have several days before the first game, so I’m doing whatever it takes to get ready to be back for the first game. I thought I might have been back for the last couple of games of the regular season.”
Head trainer Brad Handley said Klejna’s recovery appears to be on schedule.
“Typically this injury has a four- to six-week timeline. Some people heal faster and some take a little longer, so it’s not an exact process. He’s done everything he needs to do.
“The body is pretty good at healing itself, so you have to give it the right conditions to heal. You have to get the swelling out of the knee as fast as you can and increase the range of motion and build some stability.”
Said Klejna: “I was ready to do whatever Brad said to do off the ice. I needed to work hard to get better.”
Klejna missed the last 14 regular-season games and first three playoff dates last year with a separated shoulder. Handley said Klejna’s injury history meant he knew how hard he’d have to work in rehabilitation.
“He knows the process. You need to show the player what he can do well so you can move on to something a little harder. The player can see how it relates to what they’re doing in the game, and once they can do it off the ice it gives them more confidence on the ice. We had him skating slowly last week to get him used to that, too.”
Handley said that, while it’s important for a player to have a return date for recovery, it’s tempting for players to push themselves too hard to meet it.
“You want to be back so badly, and you can be too driven to return. At this point a day or two can make a big difference in the healing process, but one or two days could mean you miss a game or two of the playoffs. You don’t want to push it and sacrifice your health to get back two days earlier.”
In his second OHL season, Klejna scored 14 goals and earned 17 assists for 31 points in 51 games. He had two goals and three assists for five points in the two games before the injury.
“Every injured player feels so bad because they want to be out there playing instead of watching,” said Klejna. “I have to keep my conditioning up and trust that I can play well when I get back.”
