Confident UConn Drops Puck On First Practice Of Hockey Season (Anthony)

[huskymedic]

Interesting info in the article: http://www.courant.com/sports/college/hc-uconn-hockey-0916-20150915-story.html

>>Nichols, a junior from Dallas, had surgery on both hips (one in April, one in May) to address torn labrums and impingements and is not cleared for 100 percent participation. The procedure is relatively common for goalies to have at one point in their career.

Last week, Nichols began hitting the ice in pads – as in, going down, butterfly style – and he isn't yet skating on consecutive days. Thursday will mark 16 weeks since the second procedure and full rehabilitation was expected to take 4-5 months.<<

 

[mac2351]

BC goalie, Thatcher Demko, had the same surgery this offseason and will be expected to be a top five goalie in the country this year. He says he has never felt better following the surgery.

It will be interesting to see the effect this has on Nichols' playing time and productivity this season, especially early on. If he is not 100% going up against BU and Notre Dame it will definitely show up on the score sheet. As Nichols goes so goes the Icebus. I would be disappointed if he is facing the same number of shots as last season with the improved blue line.

 

[FDNY99]

Being a butterfly goalie myself I can see how eventually you end up getting that surgery. It definitely takes time to recover from what guys have told me....sometimes 10-12 months to get back to 100%. I'd rather see him heal up properly than come back too soon.

 

[mac2351]

Considering he was playing with two bad hips, makes his game 2 performance against UNH in the playoffs even more remarkable.

 

[FDNY99]

Considering he was playing with two bad hips, makes his game 2 performance against UNH in the playoffs even more remarkable.

From guys I have talked to who have had the surgery...you feel like a new goalie...the older you are the harder it is to heal...but I'm going to assume they were an issue with him all of last season in some way, shape or form. That makes his performance like you said even more remarkable.