By Paul M. Banks
By now, you’ve probably heard the news, about Blackhawks forward and former Wisconsin Badger Adam Burish: a knee reconstruction surgery and a 6 month absence from the game are now in his immediate future.
“Yesterday was tough, probably the toughest I’ve had since I’ve been a pro…I’m kind of reminded of when I was 18 I was in a pretty serious car accident, a quote that stuck with me was make every obstacle an opportunity, and I’m going to try and find a way to do that and like I told Stan (Bowman, Blackhawks GM) today, I promise I’ll come back stronger than I was before,” Burish said to the number of reporters present at practice. A group that was much larger than usual for a post-training camp practice session.
So when will he be back?
“I’ve probably spoken to five or six doctors in the last 24 hours and I plan on being back March at the latest. Once the surgery gets done, I’ll probably put a date up, that’s maybe unreasonable, but that’s how I’ll go about it and try to shoot for that,” the 26 year Burish said.
Of course, his teammates will miss him on the ice, but he’ll still be around the players off the ice:
“I’ll be around and I’ll make fun of them and tell them how much they suck (jokingly, laughter ensues) but the fun thing, these guys have been great and I think every guy on the team called me yesterday and that’s nice and that means a lot,” Burish said
“And I’ll come bug you guys too a little bit,” he said when referring to the media.
And it’s Burish’s sense of humor that keeps the mood light and positive in the locker room. He’s also the team’s best enforcer, and according to Chicago Magazine, the city’s 26th most eligible bachelor. Click here to read what he said about hockey groupies at the Fan Convention in July.
Head Coach Joel Quenneville talked about what Burish does best on frozen pond, “From shift to shift, I think he brings that energy and that attitude that you want in your team, there’s some speed to his game and he plays, I don’t want to say reckless, but he plays a hard game, kills penalties, is useful in a lot of ways. His line might have been the best energy line, they scored a lot of big goals, had a lot of meaningful shifts, and the pace he plays at, is something that comes to the forefront.”
Burish also gave a very passionate soundbite about his desire for the game and how much the freak injury frustrates him:
“Probably the most frustrating part, I worked hard, incredibly hard all summer, even more than in the regular season on getting my body prepared, and then ten minutes into your first preseason game, most of your season’s gone already. And mentally that’s pretty damaging for me. If it was Game 7 of the Cup Finals, you can take both my knees, I don’t care, but a preseason game, after all the time that you spend, that’s what I beat myself up about.”