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Jani Hakanpaa summed up his return to the National Hockey League rather succinctly.
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“Unreal,” the Maple Leafs defenceman said on Saturday morning. “It was such a great feeling. It’s been a long time coming, a lot of hard work, a lot of hours put into that.”
Some 72 hours after getting 15 minutes, 36 seconds of ice time in Washington against the Capitals in the Leafs’ 4-3 overtime win on Wednesday in his Leafs debut, Hakanpaa was anticipating his second game in a Toronto uniform against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.
For the time being, and perhaps longer, Hakanpaa will play with Morgan Rielly.
Leafs coach Craig Berube likes shutdown capabilities in the pairing of Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev, a partnership that was first was used on Oct. 26 in Boston and has been intact since.
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With Oliver Ekman-Larsson playing with Connor Timmins on the third pairing, it gives Berube three left-right duos, which the coach prefers.
Hakanpaa’s road back didn’t follow a straight line. He had not played since March 16 with the Dallas Stars after suffering a knee injury, and questions lingered throughout the summer as to whether he would be able to play again.
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The Leafs took their time, finally signing Hakanpaa to a one-year contract on Sept. 11. Still, he started the season on long-term injured reserve and had a conditioning stint with the Toronto Marlies before playing in Washington.
“In general, I always thought that (his return) was coming,” Hakanpaa said. “You just have to keep working, trust the process. But, sure, there has been some minutes when you’re grinding away back home in Finland, you are thinking, ‘Does it ever come?’
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“I feel like there has been that trust in there always, like beneath everything else. It’s just part of the process. It makes you stronger and tougher throughout it. With any injury, once you come out of it, you’re better coming back.”
Rielly can go deep into his memory bank and relate. A knee injury and subsequent recovery limited him to just 18 games in 2011-12, which just happened to be his draft year. The Leafs chose him with the fifth pick in the 2012 NHL draft, and he’s now the longest-serving current Leafs player with 809 games and counting.
“I hate to say it, but there’s an element of (the injury) where it sticks with you,” Rielly said. “You work hard and you do everything you need to rehab properly, and put yourself in a position where you’re cleared to play, but it’s an ongoing thing, whether it’s a major injury or minor. It really doesn’t matter.
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“That’s just something as an athlete you have to accept. I think he’s done a great job. He’s worked extremely hard. He has taken extreme measures to get himself ready to go and he looks great.”
Oilers superstar Connor McDavid, meanwhile, wasn’t overly forthcoming when he was asked about his past 48 hours after becoming the fourth-fastest player in NHL history to record 1,000 points.
McDavid reached the milestone in the Oilers’ overtime win against Nashville.
“It’s been just trying to get to Toronto (from Edmonton),” McDavid said. “It was a quick turnaround. On the plane early, trying to beat all the Taylor Swift traffic. We managed to do that. It’s cool to see the city.
“Saturday night hockey in front of lots of friends and family, of course, it means more.”
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