Panthers' Bjugstad walking, feeling upbeat nearly a week after surgery
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Nearly one week after undergoing season-ending surgery, Florida Panthers center Nick Bjugstad was back at the BB&T Center cheering on his teammates as they battled the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.
Bjugstad, who currently leads the Panthers with 24 goals, was ruled out for the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery on his lower back at the Mayo Sports Clinic in Minneapolis on March 27.
Following an overnight stay at the hospital, Bjugstad, who described the surgery as "a pretty quick process," had trouble walking around for a few days, but has already begun to regain his strength and spent the morning walking on a treadmill under the supervision of Panthers trainers.
"Right now I feel pretty comfortable walking," said Bjugstad, who looked only marginally hobbled. "Good progress and I can't complain. I'm healthy as of now and I just want to keep going from there."
Looking back, Bjugstad can't pinpoint a specific play or incident that may have triggered the injury, but remembers that the discomfort in his lower back surfaced sometime in mid-February.
"I just didn't really know what it was," Bjugstad said of the injury. "We kind of worked it out (and) a few games I wasn't really noticing it. It progressively didn't get better. I was playing with it a little bit, but a lot of guys play through that thing. I thought it was a little minor tweak in the hip, so we didn't really think too much of it."
Within reach of the playoffs for the first time in his career, Bjugstad played through an increasing amount of pain each time he took the ice in the final weeks before the team shut him down.
"We were in the playoff push and I didn't really know the severity of (the injury) so I didn't feel like I needed to sit myself out," said Bjugstad, who signed a six-year extension in December.
In the end, however, the decision was made to close the book on Bjugstad's sophomore season and begin looking toward next year.
"It was tough going out that way," said Bjugsatd, who last played in Florida's 2-1 victory over Boston on March 21. "I'm just going to try and stay positive with it. I've never really had a serious injury like this so I'm going to have to rehab it and focus on remember that I can't pick anything up or bend over for three weeks."
Following the end of Florida's season, Bjugstad will return to Minnesota to train at his alma mater, the University of Minnesota, with former Gophers and current NHLers. Unlike previous summers, however, the 22-year-old will be making some changes to his usual training regime to help in his rehabilitation.
"Maybe do some Pilates, different type of core work," said Bjugstad, who may also explore yoga. "That can help the back. The workout regime will be a little different, obviously, with the back."
As for spending the next three weeks immobile and on the couch, Bjugstad is prepared.
"I bought myself an Xbox," Bjugstad said with a laugh. "I'll play some Xbox, I guess, because I can't even fish, not too happy about that. Play some Xbox, kill some time."
You can follow Jameson Olive on Twitter @JamesonCoop or email him at JamesonOlive@gmail.com.
