NHL

Staal says eye will never be the same, but expects to be ready for Rangers camp

Marc Staal’s road to recovery may never end, but the defenseman is still confident he will be ready for Rangers training camp.

“The eye is still not normal, but I feel back to normal,” Staal told NHL.com Tuesday. “I don’t see myself having any issues once camp starts. It’ll be good to get into camp to get that timing and feeling back, but I’m excited for that to get that started, get that rolling.”

Staal suffered the injury on March 5 when Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen ripped a slap shot that hit Staal below his eyebrow. It was a scary scene as Staal immediately crumpled to the ice with blood trickling onto the ice.

But Staal says the worst part came shortly after.

“When you’re sitting in the doctor’s office and he tells you your eye probably won’t come back to normal, that was a hard day,” Staal told the website from the Canada Olympic orientation camp.

“That was about a week-and-a-half after [the injury]. They told me originally that I would be all right, but once the blood started flushing out of there they started to see a little more damage. The next thing he said is, ‘You’re still going to play.’ But you still don’t know if you’re going to get back to that level, and obviously that’s what I have to prove. I’m anxious to do that.”

Staal tried to return for the Rangers during the playoff run. He played 17 minutes in Game 3 against the Capitals, but was sidelined for the rest of the postseason following a setback. Staal didn’t feel comfortable until a mid-July skate with NHL-playing-brothers Jordan and Jared.

“After the skate I realized I hadn’t thought about it once,” Staal said. “While I was doing all the drills, quick drills, things like that, my focus wasn’t on thinking about what I was doing, it was more about just doing it. Right after that skate I was like, ‘OK, this is going to be fine.'”