Backstrom's return from hip surgery for Capitals familiar to Jovanovski
Forward, who will return Sunday, followed similar path to former defenseman
So Jovanovski will be rooting for Backstrom when he becomes the second player to return to the NHL after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery. That's expected to happen when Capitals host the Columbus Blue Jackets at Capital One Arena on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; NBCSWA, BSOH, SNE, SNO, SNP, ESPN+, SN NOW).
"He's had such a wonderful career," Jovanovski said. "I think for him to be able to go into a situation where you're pain free, who knows what he can do now at the latter part of his career?"
Jovanovski, a defenseman who played 1,128 games during 18 seasons in the NHL with the Florida Panthers, Vancouver Canucks and Phoenix Coyotes, was the first to play in the League after having hip resurfacing surgery when he returned to play for the Panthers against the Predators on Jan. 4, 2014. Backstrom's story almost exactly nine years later has many parallels to Jovanovski's.
Like for Backstrom, simple things such as tying his shoes and playing with his children became ordeals for Jovanovski because of the pain in his arthritic left hip. Jovanovski tried everything to avoid surgery, including cortisone injections and spending a week in Dusseldorf, Germany with Dr. Peter Wehling, the orthopedic specialist who helped extend the careers of former NFL player Ray Lewis and former NBA player Kobe Bryant with stem-cell treatments.
None of it worked.
"I used to spend three hours on the (trainer's) table just to get ready for a game or practice," said Jovanovski, now a studio analyst on Panthers telecasts on Bally Sports Florida. "You just hated coming to the rink, put it that way. You just knew it was going to be a grind. I was toward the latter part of my career. After 1,100 games, I was just like, 'What am I doing?'
"But still at the end of the day, there's something in you that you're just not ready to stop playing."
Backstrom called it a "last resort" to have resurfacing surgery on his left hip after playing with pain the past two seasons. The 35-year-old had arthroscopic surgery on his left hip in 2015 and hoped to avoid a second procedure after it began to bother him again late in the 2020-21 season.
Backstrom missed the first 28 games of last season while rehabbing his hip and returned to get 31 points (six goals, 25 assists) in 47 regular-season games and six points (two goals, four assists) in six Stanley Cup Playoff games for Washington. But the continuing pain in Backstrom's hip made it clear that he had to do something.
"I had to do it because I had no other choice," Backstrom said. "It's either that or I'll skate on one leg again."
But Backstrom, who is second in Capitals history behind Alex Ovechkin with 1,011 points (264 goals, 747 assists) in 1,058 games over 15 NHL seasons, said he always believed he would return to play, even before he had the resurfacing surgery at the ANCA Clinic in Belgium on June 17. Jovanovski wasn't thinking about playing again when he went to the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York in April 2013 to have orthopedic specialist Dr. Edwin Su perform the procedure.
"I had the surgery done as more of a career-ender," said Jovanovski, who was 36 at the time. "I never thought coming back was really an option to be honest with you."
The surgery involves cutting through gluteal muscle and tendons to access the hip before trimming and capping the head of the femur (thigh bone) with a smooth metal covering and inserting a thin metal shell inside the hip socket. Then, comes months of hard work.
"Once I had the surgery, I'm sure Nick would tell you, it's not a fun rehab, especially the way that they get into that hip area and kind of clean it out. It's a lot of cutting through muscle," Jovanovski said. "But as you get into it and you start rehabbing, you start feeling better. I think for me I called the doctor and was like, 'Hey, can I skate?' And he's like, 'Yeah, why not?'
"And then it was like, 'You think I can play?' And he's like, 'Yeah, why not?'
Still, Jovanovski, now 46, was entering unchartered territory. At the time, professional wrestler The Undertaker was the closest example of a professional athlete returning from hip resurfacing surgery.
Since then, a handful in other athletes have followed Jovanovski, including NBA players Isaiah Thomas and Tiago Splitter and tennis players Andy Murray and Bob Bryan. Former Canucks and Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Kesler had resurfacing surgery on his right hip in May 2019 and on his left hip in February 2021 but was unable to return the NHL.
Murray called Jovanovski to ask about his experience before having his surgery in January 2019. Backstrom said he spoke with Murray and Thomas, who played for the Washington Wizards before having his surgery in May 2020, and two professional hockey players in Sweden before undergoing his procedure.
Backstrom didn't contact Jovanovski, but Capitals athletic trainer Jason Serbus, who was with the Coyotes when Jovanovski played for them, did.
"So it's kind of that trickle effect, athletes helping each other, knowing what they're up against," Jovanovski said. "But there was never a moment where I said, 'Listen, don't do this.' I think if anything, you have the ability to change your quality of life to be able to hang with the kids and just walk normal. Never mind anything else, just walk without a limp."
One of the biggest hurdles for Jovanovski when he returned to playing was trepidation about absorbing a hit on his hip. At 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, Jovanovski's physicality was a staple of his game.
"Obviously, there's nerves and you start worrying about how things are going to be for me, a defenseman, being a physical player," Jovanovski said. "I was like, 'How am I going to take those hits?' After getting my first couple hits, you're like 'OK, it's pretty strong,' and I think the work you've done leading up to coming back is paying off."
Although Backstrom has taken some hits in practice, he acknowledged that will be a question mark for him until he does it in a game.
"I'm sure that's another area that you can't really practice; that's just got to happen," Backstrom said. "I've gotten some bumps and no setbacks, so that's good."
Jovanovski played 37 games for the Panthers after returning, getting five points (one goal, four assists) and averaging 16:10 in ice time. His 34 hits during that span were fourth among Panthers defensemen.
"Hockey is everything to me still," Jovanovski said. "I loved coming to the rink and it was nice coming to rink not limping and not being on table for hours and to be able to kind of enjoy yourself on the ice in practice and hang around after with the younger guys."
Jovanovski retired after the Florida bought out the final year on his contract following the 2013-14 season, but it wasn't because his hip.
"I think we all know at 38 you start slowing down," he said. "But having a year left on my contract at the time, I think it would've been nice to have a full summer of solid training and kind of just play out that year, but it is what it is. I get it. But it was nothing to do with the hip."
In fact, Jovanovski said he's had "zero" issues with his left hip since then, but he had full replacement surgery on his right hip last year.
"I had the other one done just because it was bad too, but as we were doing X-rays and kind of seeing the other side, Dr. Su did an unbelievable job," Jovanovski said. "Nothing has moved. Everything has been good."
So Jovanovski's advice to Backstrom as he approaches his first game back with the Capitals is simply to enjoy it.
"It's going to take a couple shifts to kind of get yourself into it, but just go and have fun," Jovanovski said. "Just go and have fun and play and before you know it you won't even think about it."
