{"id":178166,"date":"2023-01-05T21:20:15","date_gmt":"2023-01-05T21:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/how-nicklas-backstrom-is-accelerating-his-return-to-the-ice-after-hip-surgery\/"},"modified":"2023-01-05T21:20:15","modified_gmt":"2023-01-05T21:20:15","slug":"how-nicklas-backstrom-is-accelerating-his-return-to-the-ice-after-hip-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/how-nicklas-backstrom-is-accelerating-his-return-to-the-ice-after-hip-surgery\/","title":{"rendered":"How Nicklas Backstrom is accelerating his return to the ice after hip surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Over the past two seasons, Nicklas Backstrom faced conversations that frankly, he had no interest in having.<\/p>\n

The Washington Capitals center’s nagging left hip had deteriorated to the point where he had a hard time putting on his socks and shoes. He struggled to play with his kids (ages 9, 6 and 2). He walked around the team facility with a limp.<\/p>\n

“I couldn’t bend my left leg, I could barely bend over,” Backstrom told ESPN. “It ached all the time, especially after games.”<\/p>\n

The daily pain was met with frustration.<\/p>\n

“Yeah, I played,” Backstrom said. “But I wasn’t really effective out there.”<\/p>\n

Capitals GM Brian MacLellan had several chats with the 35-year-old, who is already a franchise legend.<\/p>\n

“I told him, ‘You’ve had a great career,'” MacLellan told ESPN. “Played 1,000 games, scored 1,000 points, won a Stanley Cup. You’re at an age where, if you walked away, nobody would say anything.”<\/p>\n