After just a handful shifts in Vancouver on March 19th, Victor Hedman left the eventual 6-2 Tampa Bay Lightning win. He would not return to the line-up for the rest of the season. On Tuesday, he spoke to the assembled media about his absence,
“Obviously, after the first period in Vancouver was kind of the final straw. It’s a thing that’s been going on for a long time, and try to work through it, and find ways to get around it, but I wasn’t able to do that. So, that’s where the decision came that I needed to take some time and find myself again.”
It wasn’t a physical injury that kept the Lightning’s captain off of the ice (although he had his share of those this season), but more of a mental struggle that he was dealing with. It was something that had been building up for awhile, and for his own sake he needed to step away from the game for some time.
Had the Lightning advanced to the second round of the playoffs, it sounds like he would have been back in the line-up as he had been working with the team and that he felt “fresh, body feels great”. Hedman acknowledged that it wasn’t the most ideal off-season for him last year as he was recovering from a broken foot and it “hindered” a lot of what he could do in the summer. Then it was a hip injury in the preseason followed by his elbow injury just as he felt he starting to find his game.
The 35-year-old defenseman credited his therapist (who apparently doesn’t know much about hockey) with helping him get back to the point where he could look forward to playing the game again. When asked if anyone else had helped him through it, he mentioned his teammates as well as Steven Stamkos and Linus Ullmark. The Ottawa goaltender, who had also taken time away from his team this season to focus on his mental health, had previously credited Hedman for reaching out to him.
The Big Swede is focused on getting back to work this summer and coming back ready for another long, successful run next season.
When asked about what his message to other people, professional athletes or not, who might be dealing with something they maybe can’t define, Hedman responded with,
“Reach out for help, it’s important. This game has given me a lot in life, but at the end of the day there’s going to be a life after hockey, too. You just don’t sit there with your thoughts, there’s a lot of people out there that can help, and that’s what I found out. Like I said, it’s never too late either. The mental part is just as important, if not more important than the physical part…don’t sit around with your thoughts, reach out and get the help you need.”
