The injury left an indelible impression – on the player and on Denver hockey fans.

On the night of the Pioneers’ greatest triumph in 12 years – the program’s eighth national championship, Tariq Hammond could have seen his promising hockey career come to an end.

His gruesome third-period collision into the United Center end boards on that April evening in 2017 resulted in multiple breaks of a talus bone (which connects the foot and ankle) and multiple dislocations of joints.

Being able to stand up and walk comfortably might have been a good enough goal given the gravity of the injury, which the surgeon who operated on him, Dr. Kenneth Hunt of UCHealth Foot and Ankle Center, has described as something similar to a car accident.

Yet here is Hammond today, 17 months later, fresh off attending the New Jersey Devils’ prospects camp and set to play this season for their top affiliate, Binghamton of the American Hockey League.

His recovery is a testament to his will and work ethic, the excellence of his surgeon and the tremendous support he received from DU’s training staff.

A tall task … times two

“It was an eye-opening experience for him. It was potentially a career-ending injury for him,” said Aaron Leu, Denver’s associate director of sports medicine and the hockey team’s athletic trainer. “They were able to piece the bone back together, put a plate in there and get it stabilized. Then it was a matter of being casted or splinted for 6-8 weeks, then starting to work on some motion, then some strength.”

Hammond’s initial surgery went well enough, or so it seemed, and he was prepared to help with a DU hockey camp in June when he received news of a monumental setback.

“During a checkup they found that one fracture wasn’t healing properly,” Hammond recalled. “It was a devastating blow when I found out. They had to graft a bone from my hip in the second surgery.”

That also meant hitting the reset button on the entire process of surgery, cast, splint, regain motion and begin to rebuild strength. It also drastically shortened his time to prepare for his senior season. It was a decision he reached through conversation with Leu, coach Jim Montgomery and DU Director of Sports Performance Matt Shaw, the hockey team’s strength and conditioning guru.

“I was able to talk to them as a player and talk to them as friends,” Hammond said.

Obviously, the timing was less than perfect for Hammond, who had been elected the Pioneers’ captain that spring.

“Knowing that he was going to have to another surgery, then be in a cast, splint or walking boot for another six to eight weeks was really putting him behind the 8 ball,” Leu said. “Being the captain, he wanted to be out there from Day 1. … There were a couple of tough conversations early in the year.

“ ‘You’ve got to be dedicated on a daily basis. Rehab is going to take 2-3 hours a day. You’re going to be to go to the weight room and work on some upper-body stuff, but we’re going to really limit your lower body and not allow you to do things while this heals up. … It’s going to be frustrating, it’s going to be difficult, there’s going to highs and lows, good days and bad days. You’ve just got to take them one at a time.’ ”

MORE INSIDE STORIES

Keeping the Pioneers in one piece

Building a better Pioneer

Keeping the Pioneers well equipped

The wait and the weight

Realizing that his senior season was going to be shortened was one thing, but coming to grips with being a captain who spent more time in the training room than the locker room was quite another.

“Honestly, it was a terrible time,” Hammond recalled. “That second surgery, starting rehab all over again, it was tough. It was worse missing the camaraderie with the boys.

“I have to give a lot of credit to our assistants – Troy (Terry), Gams (Dylan Gambrell) and Planter (Adam Plant) ran things well. It’s a testament to our team culture. But it sucked not being around the guys.”

Enter Pioneer Health and Performance, a collaboration between several departments to help ensure athletes’ health, wellness and performance.

“When you look at Tariq, here’s an injured athlete who’s experienced tissue damage but also there’s other aspects – the psychological, his ability to handle the adversity of multiple surgeries in the offseason, his ability to handle stress whether he’s internally questioning his own return to play or the adversity he’s experiencing,” Shaw said.

“Tariq was a great example of using all those resources during key times of his recovery to make sure he was not only physically prepared when he was actually back on the ice but he was receiving the sports psychology interaction when he was working through the duration of his rehab. Obviously myself and Aaron Leu were making sure he was taken care of from every aspect. It was way more holistic.”

Said Hammond, “I talked with both of those guys a lot, and I feel like I can talk to them about anything.”

The daily grind

While the Pioneers began their “Grind for Nine”, Hammond was dealing with his own grind, beginning with three to five hours a day working with Leu and the training staff.

“It’s good to keep an eye on the future, but your focus has really got to be on that day and maximize your time while you’re in here. He understood that,” Leu said, adding Hammond could not return home to Canada to see his family and friends last summer. “He had a conversation with his parents that was pretty emotional for him. But he committed to it, and every day he came in with a smile.

“Every day we’d have an initial conversation about how is it feeling today? How did it feel last night? Notice any major problems before we get going? Just taking stock of the past 24 hours. Then (we’d) make a short-term plan for that day, that week and that month. … He was a trooper. Every day he came in, gave everything he had and kept his eye on the prize of returning to the lineup.”

Hammond said one of the big reasons he was able to not only return to the ice but endure the monotony of lengthy rehab sessions day after day was simple.

“It was a two-way relationship with (Leu), he was always open to suggestions, open to me asking him questions,” Hammond said. “He was the first one to help me on the ice and he was always there for me, through doctors appointments and every step of the way in rehab. We built a pretty good friendship.

“Whenever the doctors would call, he would be honest with me. Sometimes they didn’t have the greatest news.”

It took several weeks mobility, strength and balance work before Hammond could even think of resuming any sort of conditioning with Shaw.

“Once I got the OK to start working my lower body after the second surgery, we spent up to two hours a day working one-on-one,” Hammond said. “He and Aaron kept each other in the loop about what I could do and what I couldn’t. Shawzy figured out modifications.”

Returning to the ice

Could Hammond make it back for the start of DU’s season? That was a big storyline last fall. Speculation, including here, was plentiful, but the reality was it was a day-by-day situation for the defenseman.

“The idea was to get him back for the Notre Dame series (in early October),” Leu said. “As he progressed through that we knew he’s not going to make it for that. Let’s shoot for the Western Michigan series (late October). Once we got him out of the boot, got him through the range of motion component, got him strong where he could get back to skating and got clearance to be back on the ice. Just to be by himself and get a feel for the edges on the skate. He could start work on skating.

“It was a real eye opener for Coach Shaw and myself to see how far the second surgery had made him regress. We’ve got to really start from Square 1 or even beyond Square 1 to get his movement patterns back and firing musculature and just push off. He had to start off at the lowest level I can think of.”

For a player who had been through two surgeries and the disappointment of not being able to be fully present for his charges, this was insult piled on top of injury.

“His challenge was overcoming adversity,” Shaw said. “In any other sport that might have been career-ending. He had to learn a different style of skating. Hardware will limit function of the ankle. Learning different biomechanics. Harnessing his play back to improve range of motion and stability around that joint and continuing to strengthen it.”

Added Leu: “It was an eye-opener for him to see how much work he was going to have to put in just for skating. It was difficult for him but he was out there every day. He made significant increases if it wasn’t every day it was every couple of days where it was he looks way smoother today than he did two days ago.

Once he continued to get the muscle patterns going and the strength for normal movement patterns, I think the light at the end of the tunnel became a little bit bigger and little brighter. He really started working harder because he wanted to get back and play as many games as possible with his team as possible.”

The turning point was his return, on Nov. 17 in a home game against North Dakota. Hammond wasn’t fully his former self, but he was getting closer and closer.

“His foot and ankle were stiff and sore, and he couldn’t handle back-to-back games just yet, but by the time we got in December he was feeling about 95 percent all the way back,” Leu said. “Finally by early February he felt really close to normal, but there were a few things he or the coaches or Coach Shaw or myself knew were lacking.

“From a general fan perspective he probably looked pretty normal, maybe a step slow. But if you saw him on a daily basis you could pick things out. He was dedicated through the whole phase. It was impressive to watch.”

The home stretch

Leu described Hammond’s current physical state as a “new normal” and said the defenseman’s recovery should be complete by the 18-month mark, approximately when the AHL season starts next month.

Speaking before he left for the Devils’ rookie camp, Hammond said his leg was feeling better than it had at any point since his injury. Prioritizing his training this summer, under the eyes of Leu and Shaw, made a tremendous difference, he added.

“Without their help I wouldn’t have made it back and I wouldn’t have the opportunity I have now,” Hammond said. “I cherish the time here.”

Shaw said Hammond’s commitment level led to this point.

“Even for a hockey player it’s pretty hard to come back,” Shaw said. “He overcame a lot. For him to end up with a AHL is pretty amazing. He puts his head down and works. All he does is focus on what’s in front of him every day. He stayed positive no matter how much adversity he faced.”

©First Line Editorial 2017-18