Thanks, Sabres.com
It does my heart to see Tyler Ennis smiling once again.
Over the past past seven years, Ennis has been the one constant in the Buffalo room. The departures of mainstay veteran players Miller, Pominville, Vanek, Myers, Stafford, Enroth, Leopold, Ott, Regehr and others has branded Ennis as the “old guy… in the Buffalo room.
The 26 year old frozen water bug is the last link to the last time the Buffalo Sabres made the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2010. He's survived the two seasons of “The Tank…. Last summer, Ennis told me he was primed and ready to be a 20+ goal scorer and a key contributor on the score sheet and in the room.
A slow start to his season had Ennis chasing his game. So many new teammates. So many new expectations to live up to from his new head coach and coaching staff.
Ennis scored only 3 goals and 8 assists in his first 23 games of the season. He was minus 9 and he struggled mightily to find his rhythm.
Injuries deprived Ennis of the opportunity to show his new coaches and new teammates the real Tyler Myers.
Ennis has missed 57 games this season due to serious injuries. He hasn't played in an NHL game ever since he suffered a brutal concussion on December 30 in Washington.
The Edmonton, Alberta native was out of sight and therefore out of mind from January until the end of March. Ennis' concussion symptoms were so dramatic and severe that he could not drive his car to the rink. He struggled to perform every day routines because of the fatigue that the symptoms had caused him to feel. After he would exercise, his heart rate would plummet. Sabres management and the coaching staff agreed that the best place for Ennis to be was as far away from the ice as they could move him. In the past 100 days, while his teammates have been grinding it out and earning the respect of NHL opponents, Ennis has been watching the games from a distance. He slowly and methodically followed the plan of care set for by his neurologist and the team medical staff. Slowly, Ennis has seen improvements in his symptom management. In fact, he has been symptom free for about a week now, and has been skating on his own.
On Thursday, Ennis accomplished a goal that many people said he wouldn't accomplish this season. Number 63 skated a full practice with his teammates for the first time since late December. Albeit in a non-contact sweater, a rusty yet enthused Ennis skated with his bros.
All of his hard work, resting, and compliance to his rehab plan allowed him to re-join the group and to play the game that he loves.
Afterwards, Ennis used two words repeatedly when he described his harrowing concussion journey:
“Thankful… and “Grateful….
There were dark days when Ennis must have thought that his season and perhaps his career were over. He heard the stories about former teammates and other NHLers who were not lucky enough to come out on the other side of the darkness to the light.
“It’s a really difficult thing,… a wide eyed Ennis said after Thursday's practice. “I went through a lot of different emotions, a lot of ups and downs. So, yeah, there’s really bad days. There’s days where you feel great and days where it’s tough. To say I wasn’t scared at some point would probably be a lie, but I feel so good right now. I feel great. I feel 100 percent.…
There's no better panacea for an injured hockey player than to skate a full practice and to be back in the brotherhood again. Injured players often feel like cast outs and strangers. They skate alone with coaches. They meet with training staff while the rest of the team is on the ice for practice or on the road for games. They miss jokes on the bus, the smack talk on the bench, the dinners with the boys, the shared experiences on the ice. They miss the battles and the emotional roller coaster rides.
Ennis will not play in Games 81 nor 82. He will watch from the press box. It doesn't matter. He's back in the heart of the group and he has his health. What else could Ennis want at this point?
“Today was a great day,… Ennis said. “It was fun to be with the team. It’s so fun to be out there.. joke around with the boys. I’m in a good mood.…
“It’s such a weird process,… he said. “It sucks. There’s bad days. There’s good days. There’s ups, downs, different emotions. It’s really difficult. So that’s where the appreciation and gratefulness come into play. I feel great. I’m excited. I can’t wait to improve.…
Ennis wished there were 82 more games to play in his season from Hell.
He won't be playing for Team Canada at the IIHF Worlds in Russia like he and Ryan O'Reilly had last spring. Ennis and ROT earned gold medals at the 2015 World Championships.
Ennis will have to scrub the rust off his legs while at home in Edmonton this summer and report to the O'Reilly skates in Buffalo in late July.
Knowing Enzo the way that I do, he will report back to Buffalo later this summer in the best shape of his hockey life. He will have to give everything he has over the summer. There are no guarantees that Ennis will be a part of the Buffalo roster next season. The same applies to Zemgus Girgensons and Matt Moulson. The Savres roster that takes the ice in the final two games of this season is not the 2016-17 opening night roster. The winds of chage will continue to blow in Buffalo.
There will be roster changes over the summer.
Tim Murray has 12 draft choices and $35 million in cap space. Murray will be hosting the NHL Draft in June. You better believe that he is going to sweeten his 5th or 6th overall pick in the draft with a prospect and a roister player to get himself into the top three slots of the draft where he will have a legit shot to snare Finns Jesse Pulujarvi or Patrik Laine. Murray has serious decisions to make on his forward ranks. Murray may well sign pending UFA superstar Steven Stamkos to the richest contract in Sabres history. He is going to find a sniping winger to play alongside Jack Eichel next season. Murray will make a blockbuster trade, possibly with Anaheim, for top pair left D Cam Fowler. Ennis has three years remaining on hi scontract at $4.6 million AAV. That's a nice contract for a guy who when healthy can give a team 20+ goals and 20+ assists.
Ennis is a fan favorite in Buffalo. He is an easy guy to rally behind and cheer for.
Here's hoping that he can add more “north… components to his offensive game and develop more muscle and core strength over the summer. Ennis deserves the opportunity to play for a winning Sabres squad having had to endure the brutality and depression of the tanking campaigns.