Kirkland Defies Adversity to Make NHL Return, ‘Dream Come True All Over Again’

Justin Kirkland’s return to the NHL isn’t just a full-circle moment. 

It’s a triumph over adversity beyond anything most athletes – and people – ever have to face in their lives.

The 27-year-old forward appeared in his first game of the season with the Coyotes on Sunday, nearly a year to the day in which a car accident nearly cut his NHL aspirations short. Hailing from Camrose, Alberta, Kirkland steadily ascended the ranks with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets and the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, Stockton Heat, and San Diego Gulls before finally making his NHL debut with the Anaheim Ducks against the Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 20, 2022.

That call was a moment he’ll never forget.

He was able to share the news in person with his wife, Madison, before Facetiming with his sister and his parents later that evening. It was almost like an early Christmas present after spending his entire professional career -- which began in 2016-17 -- in the AHL.

He had finally made it.

“You grind for seven years in the minors, wondering, is this ever going to happen? Am I ever going to get a look?” Kirkland said. “It was so cool, it happened so fast.”

Kirkland appeared in seven games with the Ducks, averaging 7:13 of ice time while winning 67 percent of his faceoff attempts. He said there was uncertainty around how much time he would spend in Anaheim, but he only sat one game, last appearing in an overtime win against the San Jose Sharks on Jan. 6, 2023.

The very next gameday, as he drove to Honda Center to face the Boston Bruins on Jan. 8, 2023, Kirkland was involved in an accident that changed the trajectory of his career, and his life.

He said he doesn’t remember much from that day until he woke up in the hospital, where his wife, Madison, and then-Ducks coach Dallas Eakins were there by his side. The Ducks had lost to the Bruins that day, but none of that mattered. From that point on, the focus was on Kirkland’s health and recovery. 

Hockey seemed like an afterthought.

“It changes everything,” Kirkland said. “I’ve had a lot of time to reflect over the last year on what’s really important in life. Obviously, growing up in Canada, it’s been hockey, hockey, hockey. I want to be a hockey player, I want to be an NHL player. You grind, and you grind, and you grind. Then something like that happens, and you sit back and you go, ‘I’m lucky to be alive, let alone to still be able to play pro and work my way back here.’”

It's a day Madison will never forget, either.

“It sounds cliche, but it's like the movies where everything just stops. That was something that was just indescribable,” she said. “It was a horror. I immediately walked in, and it's like you blank out. I just went to him and I just held on to him, and I don't think we let go for like an hour.”

The 2014 third-round draft pick's (Nashville, 62nd overall) career went from promising – a near-dream scenario – to a nightmare in an instant. He was released from the hospital after a few days, but the recovery was just as brutal on his body as it was on his psyche.

First there were surgeries, and then there was the physical therapy. Justin said it took 10-11 weeks of recovery in San Diego to simply get back to skating, because he first needed to work on getting his heart rate up before any other progress could be made. Despite the odds, he worked tirelessly to get back into playing shape, and eventually returned to play five games with the Gulls, from March 10 – 21 before getting even more devastating news: One of his best friends in Camrose, Nathan Saby, had passed away.

“It was just by far the lowest point in my life,” Justin said. “Being stuck in San Diego, I wanted to go home so bad to see family and friends, but I just knew that for my career I needed to stay and stick it out.

I did that, which was hard. But we got through the rest of the year, and getting back home at the end of the season was huge.”

Madison was his strongest source of support as he continued to navigate uncharted waters.

“She’s been my rock throughout it all,” Justin said.

He worked himself back to full health, but his hockey future remained in doubt. His one-year deal with the Ducks had expired, and as an unrestricted free agent, both Justin and Madison were starting to think perhaps it was time to focus on life after hockey.

Then Coyotes General Manager Bill Armstrong called, and ultimately signed him to a one-year, two-way contract in July 2023.

His dream suddenly had new life.

“I felt like I made it again,” Justin said. “Then (it was) just putting my head down and working; Trying to make that push to get back up here.”

Kirkland had a good training camp with the Coyotes, impressing Roadrunners head coach Steve Potvin and Coyotes coach André Tourigny. Moreover, he has had a huge impact with the Roadrunners, averaging over a point-per-game with one goal and 12 assists in 12 AHL games this season. He’s fit in well with Tucson, helping them to the second-best record in the Pacific Division, and has never wallowed or felt sorry for himself on the path he has endured.

To the contrary, he has inspired others.

“He has never played the victim card. You couldn't tell that he's gone through anything, and he just absolutely came in and worked so hard. To be honest with you, a lot of his teammates rely on him for support with things that they were going through during the season,” Potvin said. “It's massive to have somebody like that on our squad.”

Justin continued to work hard despite never knowing if he would get another crack at the NHL. The Coyotes, after all, have a roster full of talent, not to mention a cupboard stocked full of young, heralded prospects that have continued to meet, if not exceed, expectations.

He was briefly recalled on an emergency-loan basis on Dec. 23 before being sent back the next day without appearing, but was then recalled again on Jan. 6, and received the news that seemed almost unfathomable almost one year ago to the day:

He’d be suiting up to play in his eighth NHL game, against the Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 7. He not only celebrated that news with Madison, but his best friend, Curtis, didn't think twice before jumping on a plane to come see him in the NHL once again.

It's a memory that will never be forgotten.

“I’m just very grateful for the opportunity, and for the belief from the Coyotes standpoint,” Justin said. “Any way I can try to help, whether it’s faceoffs, running around banging bodies, playing physical, I’m more than happy to do it.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to stick around.”

He logged one shot on 7:23 of ice time on Sunday, and finished an impressive 6-of-8 in the faceoff circle. Tourigny said after the game he brought a spark, and it was easy to see as Justin got emotional following the game’s conclusion.

The final result isn’t what mattered to him. He had reached the peak of the mountain once again, and that’s something no one can ever take away from him.

“You don’t give an opportunity, you earn an opportunity,” Tourigny said. “We didn’t give him anything, that’s the beauty of it. I would hate for him to think we gave him something.

“It’s not a gift. He earned it.”

In what seems like poetic justice of sorts, should he suit up again on Tuesday, it would be against the Bruins – the very team he was driving to face on the day the accident occurred in Anaheim.

Justin continues to battle through re-living that day, and that experience, especially with everything that followed. Madison has always remained by his side as a constant source of support, and said she plans to be at the game to celebrate on Tuesday if he remains in the Coyotes’ lineup.

No surprise there, as she continues to support him while he chases his dream, which seemed so distant not that long ago. She also continually tries to remind him that while he doesn’t elevate himself on a pedestal, his accomplishments should be celebrated, especially considering the adversity he has overcome.

Now it’s Justin’s time to shine.

“It's the hardest thing to describe, but to go from that horrific time to then go back up on top, it's definitely a roller coaster,” Madison said. “It literally means absolutely everything to him. I honestly can't even put it into words, and though they're probably the typical things that people say, it doesn’t make them any less true.

“Ever since I've known him nine years ago, he's been quiet, he's stood back, he's let other people shine. He’s the team player. He's the guy that other guys turn to off the ice when they're struggling. He never ever wants praise but he really truly does deserve all the good things in life.”

Even as of Monday, Justin has no guarantees that he will be in an NHL lineup permanently. His stint with the Coyotes will likely be brief, and he’s well aware of that. Even so, the payoff of appearing in the NHL during the 2023-24 season is the culmination of the hard work he’s put in to get back to the level he once dreamt of reaching – and had reached – before it was all ripped away.

He’ll never take a moment for granted, and always cherish those who have meant so much to him.

“You could get a call at any point saying you’re being sent down,” Justin said. “You control what you can and have fun with it. I’m living my dream, so I’ve got no complaints, and again, a lot of it is due to my support system, and my believers, and my wife and my family.”

He will carry that perspective with him forever.

"Life has come full circle pretty fast," Justin said. "A year ago today it happened, so to be sitting here talking to you guys just finishing an NHL practice, it’s a dream come true all over again."