Ondrej Palat Has Done All He Can to Prepare for Return | FEATURE

Hopping over a bench for a shift in a hockey game is nothing new for Ondrej Palat. He's been doing it all his life, stretching his legs up and over the 40-inch boards from the bench to the playing surface. It's a second nature movement.
But when his next shift arrives, it will feel just a little different.
Between his third and sixth game of the season, his first with New Jersey, Palat felt something wasn't quite right. Later, an MRI would confirm that he would require groin surgery.
Six games in and he was already out.
"It always sucks when you're injured," Palat shared in his first interview since having surgery. "And especially when it's my first time I changed teams, I'm not that familiar with the guys. Of course, I want to go with them on road trips. I want to be in games, I want to be part of the team."
The decision to have surgery was not one he took lightly with so many different factors at play. He could wait a few weeks without it, but risked it being reinjured.
"I didn't just talk to one doctor, I talked to all the best doctors in the country to make sure everybody saw the MRI, everybody saw my groin," Palat affirmed. "And at the end of the day, with the decision, all the doctors told me the same thing, that the smart way and long term to be better is to have that surgery right away. And so, I did that, and I don't regret it. I'm very happy. I did it."
One thing was clear from the start of Palat's absence, it was going to leave a very big hole that he had been brought in to fill. His veteran leadership, having played on the biggest stage this league offers, a two-time Stanley Cup winner and as Miles Wood recently said, a player who "doesn't make little mistakes," are parts of what makes him such an important piece of the puzzle built in part in the off-season. He was from Day 1 a player the rest of the team was eager to integrate. Consequently, to see Palat rejoin practice in a full capacity and to see him practice at the same pace as his teammates has the entire group anticipating his near return.

"He brings a lot, he's won it all," Nico Hischier said after a recent practice. "He knows exactly what you need to do in certain games, in certain stretches. He is definitely just a big part of our group, we're happy to have him back because he's a guy that a lot of people look up to and do what he says. That's why we brought him in. He's obviously just a great leader for us."
When Palat did have a chance as his recovery progressed to be around the team on a more regular schedule, it was an opportunity for Palat to truly begin to get to know his teammates.
"This group is very young and very welcoming," Palat shared. "It was great when they saw me and they were like 'Pally, we need you back,' or something like that. They're awesome guys there and I felt very welcome."
Although happy with his decision to have surgery, that doesn't mean it was easy. Palat admits that at times it felt "very hard" being part of a new team for the first time in his career while he was recovering from his surgery. It put him on a completely different schedule than the rest of the team. The end of his days were often just the beginning of the rest of the team. But although it may at times may have felt like ships passing in the night, it was critical for Lindy Ruff to keep Palat involved in some way throughout his entire recovery process.
In November, shortly after Palat's surgery, Lindy Ruff said: "I always make a point of trying to, when I see him, ask him what he saw (from our games), what did he think of the game last night. He's been in all our meetings. We're really going to try and keep him involved."
"I saw the coaches a lot," Palat said. "I was always first (at the arena) in the morning with the coaches, and they were asking me about different types of situations in the game. How we did it in Tampa, things like that. So, they're asking questions, I'm asking questions about what they see."
The return of Palat is one that has been eagerly anticipated, and it's almost here. His process to return, physical health aside, is a very detailed one. At practices even before his injury, Palat could regularly be seen at practice at the glass, going over systems and expectations 1-on-1 with coaches at the white board. Palat wants every bit of information, every bit of understanding.
Palat has been giving himself a crash-course in the systems, back in player-mode, relinquishing - happily - that of spectator. He's been going to every meeting he possibly can, even if it's not entirely necessary or doesn't pertain to his own play. He has been refamiliarizing himself with the systems and where his teammates are expected to be. There is a lot of work that goes into a return after a lengthy absence, particularly with a new team. It was a suggestion that general manager Tom Fitzgerald said he was going to recommend, but when he approached his head coach about it, Ruff affirmed, "Oh, you don't have to, he's already in (the meetings)."
"That's not something you have to nudge," Fitzgerald said, "it comes natural for him to integrate himself back into the lineup, so when he does get back in, he's up to speed."
For Palat it's all about being ready to make a difference.
"I'm trying to go into all the meetings but it can be just as simple as pregame meeting," Palat said, "because when you're hurt, you're not paying as much attention to the system and stuff, so I want to now get focused on the systems, being in meetings and make sure I'm sharp when I'm going to be back."
Fitzgerald does caution the return of a player after a lengthy absence still requires time to get up to speed with the pace of play that cannot be replicated in a practice environment. Palat back in the lineup will resonate not just by virtue of his own importance to the club, but also the trickledown effect for the rest of the team. It's all about depth.
"I think it slots everybody properly," the Devils G.M. said. "Now again, he's not going to have his A-Game, 100 percent of where he can be (upon his return) like at training camp. There are reps and battling is different in a game than (rehabbing an injury). So, wherever the coaches decide to put him if he starts on our third line, starts in our top six, it's going to slot somebody down and make us stronger."
As his recovery draws ever closer to the finish line, the 10-year NHL veteran is nearing that moment, suited up on the bench, when it's time to spring into action. Finally, weeks in the making, his return feels imminent.
"I'm not worried when I'm going to play and jump over those boards, I'm just going to play," Palat said. "I'm just excited to go back and get more involved."
And it's coming very soon.