The waiting game: Dano, Matthias get rewarded for their patience

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This article was published 03/01/2018 (2809 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As he skated onto the ice for warm-up ahead of Sunday’s match against the Edmonton Oilers for what would be his first game in more than two months, Marko Dano worried less about how he’d perform and more about how his body would feel.

The root of the worry for Dano, a 23-year-old winger in his third season with the Winnipeg Jets, was how his body might react to the speed and intensity of the game after missing the last 30 as a healthy scratch. The last time he had played was on Oct. 27, so it was only natural Dano wondered whether his body would fail him.

So when the pre-game workout didn’t go as planned — his legs felt heavy and his hands a bit off — Dano feared the worst. He had worked hard to get back into the lineup, often spending hours with the coaching staff after practices to ensure that when he did get his chance to play he’d make the most of it.

Any concern he had soon faded when he opened the scoring on his first shift, scoring his first goal of the season two minutes and 34 seconds into the game, what proved to be the deciding marker in a 5-0 win over the Oilers.

“I’ve been waiting for a chance to play for a long time,” he told reporters. “It was a great feeling, and now hopefully I’ll get some more ice time and be able to help the team out.”

Just two nights before, in a 4-2 home win over the New York Islanders on Dec. 29, Shawn Matthias, having missed the last 10 games — and playing just one in the previous 21 — had identical luck as Dano. He, too, scored on his first shift, lifting the Jets to a 1-0 lead.

Like his teammate, the goal provided a brief escape from what had been a tough few weeks on the outside looking in.

“Obviously, the last little while has been a different experience for me,” said Matthias, 29, whose career has spanned 545 games over five teams, including four in the last five years. “To finish last season with having shoulder surgery, you work hard all summer, and to not have a great start… that goal felt good.”

While both hoped their goals would lead to more playing time, each knew nothing was promised. While centre Mark Scheifele (upper body) and winger Brandon Tanev (lower body) have created holes in the lineup for the foreseeable future, others are knocking on the door, including a number of prospects currently with the Manitoba Moose.

Matthias and Dano are part of a unique group on the Jets: fringe players that must wait for the worst (an injury) for their own personal best-case scenario (a chance to play). Matthias, who signed with the Jets as a free agent ahead of the 2016-17 season, spent much of his first year battling injuries. In total, he played just 45 games for Winnipeg, scoring eight goals and four assists.

He said there is a difference when it comes to missing time due to injury versus sitting out because of numbers, even if both tend to weigh heavily on the psyche.

“When you have an injury you’re rehabbing something and there’s extra work there, but both are pretty tough on you,” he said. “When you’re healthy, you’re constantly just trying to get back in by being a good pro and working hard, being a good teammate.”

In this case, being a good teammate doesn’t just mean supporting your fellow skaters. It involves treating the daily grind as if you were contributing on a nightly basis. It includes extra workouts after practice and doing conditioning drills while the others head home. It doesn’t allow you to feel sorry for yourself because no one has sympathy for people making the money professional athletes do.

When your absence extends for weeks, the rink can be a lonely place.

“That’s about as difficult of a situation that you can put a professional athlete in,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said.

Maurice has daily talks with the coaching staff to find out where each player is as far as their attitude and work ethic, and said Matthias, Dano and rookie defenceman Tucker Poolman have been exemplary teammates.

Maurice said there’s a difference between being sidelined due to injury and being a healthy scratch. He’s seen the effects of both over his 17-year NHL coaching career.

When you’re a healthy scratch “there’s a frustration there, whether you agree with the coach or not,” Maurice said. “But off an injury it’s a different kind of — and I want to be careful with the word — but a depression.”

Maurice added: “But once you can get them into the gym and they can start pushing the muscles, or you get them on the ice… their mood lifts and you start to see them progress even faster.”

For Matthias and Dano, what has made their current situations easier, oddly enough, is the fact the Jets have proven to be just fine without them. Heading into Wednesday’s games they sit atop the Central Division with a record of 23-11-7. If the Jets were struggling, it would be much tougher to swallow.

“Team was doing great so I understand that coach didn’t want to make any changes,” said Dano. “So now a couple of guys got hurt and that’s why we were working hard, to be ready for a chance when we get it.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.catwitter: @jeffkhamilton