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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWinnipeg Jets\u2019 Nino Niederreiter returns to the lineup Monday night against the Seattle Kraken after a lengthy absence. (Karl DeBlaker \/ The Associated Press files)<\/p>\n
The reasoning was twofold. First, the 33-year-old was closing in on 1,000 regular-season games and didn\u2019t want to interrupt that pursuit \u2014 a milestone he ultimately reached in December. Second, he was hoping to represent Switzerland at the Winter Olympics in February and didn\u2019t want to risk missing out.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely. You nailed it. That was exactly what was going on,\u201d Niederreiter told the Free Press when presented with that scenario.<\/p>\n
\u201cStarting the season I knew that I had to get 31 games in to get myself to play 1,000 games and then you are so close to the Olympics and try to grind that one through as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hockey is notorious for its team-first mentality, where individual pursuits are often parked in favour of the greater good. Yet Niederreiter almost seemed to be confessing to the opposite, which is sure to spark some debate given his level of play while he was in the lineup.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were stretches where it felt pretty good and there were stretches that weren\u2019t as good. Eventually, I just needed to get (the surgery) done.\u201d<\/p>\n
To be blunt, Niederreiter looked like a player who wasn\u2019t quite right during his first 55 games, in which he posted just 19 points (8G, 11A) while Winnipeg struggled. That stretch included an 11-game losing streak and a span where the Jets won just six times in 30 outings.<\/p>\n
His play dipped to the point that head coach Scott Arniel made him a healthy scratch for one game \u2014 which, as it turns out, might have been better described as a \u201cnot-really-healthy-but-playing-anyway\u201d scratch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had problems with my knee the whole time,\u201d Niederreiter said. \u201cThere were stretches where it felt pretty good and there were stretches that weren\u2019t as good. Eventually, I just needed to get that done.\u201d<\/p>\n
That decision came immediately after he returned from the Olympics where he was also one of Switzerland\u2019s flag bearers in the opening ceremonies, leading to arthroscopic surgery that cost him 20 games at a crucial time for the Jets.<\/p>\n
Now, with the benefit of hindsight, Niederreiter admits both the timing and the optics weren\u2019t ideal.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the whole recovery process now, I feel like maybe I should have done it before the season, and in the off-season kind of figuring out a way to deal with it,\u201d Niederreiter said.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \u201cBut you never know how the outcome is going to be. So, I want to give myself the best chance possible to be a part of those two events and I wish I could have finished the season but I am glad I did eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n On one hand, the approach is understandable. What if the recovery had taken longer than expected and cost him a chance to go to Italy? But there will no doubt be those who argue the situation ultimately hurt the team, especially given how the season has unfolded for the Jets.<\/p>\n Of course, the organization was well aware of the situation and allowed it to play out.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, we\u2019re not telling a player, \u2018You can\u2019t play. You have to have surgery.\u2019 That comes down to the player, his agent, the people closest to him,\u201d Arniel said following Monday\u2019s morning skate.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been something that\u2019s been bugging him. But it\u2019s a pretty big year with a lot of things going on. I think if he had a do-over, he might have gotten it done at the start of the year. That\u2019s just me guessing. I\u2019m not saying 100 per cent.\u201d<\/p>\n When informed that Niederreiter had said exactly that, Arniel expanded on the mindset.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, players think that they can play through it and hope that they can,\u201d the coach continued.<\/p>\n \u201cHe went through stretches where it felt good. I remember talking to him, him saying how it felt good. But it doesn\u2019t help when you have a schedule like how the league has the schedule, going into that Olympic break, you\u2019re playing so many nights and it\u2019s tough for recovery of those types of things.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe guys have kept us in it. They played good hockey, and I\u2019m itching to get back and join them.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s done is done. Now the focus shifts to the present and the immediate future.<\/p>\n Niederreiter hopes to quickly rediscover \u201cthe best version\u201d of himself as he rejoins a team that went 11-5-4 in his absence and remains firmly in the playoff picture.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel we have been playing faster and getting pucks more to the net,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel they have been playing with a lot of tenaciousness and doing whatever it takes to win.\u201d<\/p>\n He isn\u2019t the only one returning Monday. Good friend Vlad Namestnikov is also expected back in the lineup after missing 18 games with a lower-body injury suffered Feb. 27 in Anaheim following a collision with teammate Adam Lowry.<\/p>\n Like Niederreiter, Namestnikov has endured a difficult season, recording just 13 points (7G, 6A) in 57 games. That\u2019s a notable dip for a player who, just one year ago, centred the second line on a Presidents\u2019 Trophy-winning team.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \u201cIt\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve been out that long in my career, so it\u2019s definitely something different,\u201d he said prior to puck drop Monday. \u201cBut yeah, it\u2019s all part of the game. Things like that happen. It\u2019s kind of freak accident, so you got to go through it sometimes and just happy to be back.\u201d<\/p>\n He said having Niederreiter, one of his best friends on the team, sidelined at the same time ultimately made the recovery process a bit less painful. As did seeing the Jets continue to stay in the playoff race.<\/p>\n \u201cThe guys have kept us in it. They played good hockey, and I\u2019m itching to get back and join them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Namestnikov and Niederreiter were put on a line together Monday along with rookie forward Brad Lambert, who should help them get up to speed \u2014 quite literally, considering his good wheels.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously this time of year, I know I keep saying it, it\u2019s fast-moving water. It\u2019s the pace of where the games are at. But these guys have helped us, they\u2019ve got a history here,\u201d said Arniel.<\/p>\n \u201cWe grinded them hard here in the last week, conditioning wise to get that part of it, make sure that\u2019s up to where it needs to be. Now it\u2019s just getting their touches and kind of getting used to, as the game goes on, getting a bit more comfortable for them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re rested and ready to go and hungry. So we\u2019re hoping that\u2019s a spark for us.\u201d<\/p>\n www.winnipegfreepress.com\/mikemcintyre<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Mike McIntyre Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOne of the reasons Niederreiter delayed medical intervention was his desire to represent Switzerland at the Winter Olympics where he was ultimately one of his country’s flag bearers in the opening ceremonies (above). (Natacha Pisarenko \/ The Associated Press files)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWinnipeg Jets center Vladislav Namestnikov, returns to the ice after missing 18 games with a lower-body injury. (Nam Y. Huh \/ The Associated Press files)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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