Penguins’ Nick Bjugstad using down time to ‘get my body right’

Tribune Content Agency

The Penguins, like most of us, have gotten used to being stuck at home.

One player in particular had it down pat long before the pandemic hit.

Nick Bjugstad was expected to skate as their third-line center this season, but his year has been wrecked by injuries. He has gone through two stints on injured reserve, including a lengthy one following core muscle surgery in November.

He was staring at a third one when the NHL suspended its season March 12.

“I’ve been on the shelf for most of the year, so I’ve been at home quite a bit,” Bjugstad said last week. “So not much has really changed other than the fact that I don’t get to go to the rink and have fun with the guys and work with the training staff. That’s probably the toughest part, not having that daily routine.”

Bjugstad finally returned to the lineup March 5, admitting he expected to be back on the ice weeks earlier. Three days later, he got hurt again. Mike Sullivan said Bjugstad would be out week-to-week with a lower-body injury. The coach added that this injury was unrelated to the one that twice put him on IR.

Still recovering more than a month later at his home back in Minnesota, Bjugstad is trying to stay positive — a challenge for even an easy-going guy like him.

“I haven’t played many games this year. I don’t want to get used to it. I’m itching to get back,” he said. “And if we can somehow make up for those games and play the playoffs this summer, I’m all for it. If we have to sacrifice this summer, that’s something, from an individual perspective, that would be great.”

Following a plan created by the team’s athletic training staff, Bjugstad does daily workouts using a Peloton exercise bike, free weights and resistance bands.

He indicated that he is in a transitional phase in his recovery from his latest injury, rehabbing “a little bit” while also ramping up his hockey-specific training.

“With this time, I think it’s good for me to really take advantage of it and get my body right. Because obviously this year was not how I wanted to be as far as my playing status goes,” the 27-year-old said. “It’s been good for me to do.”

Bjugstad typically knocks out his daily workout when his little girl, Layla, takes her morning nap. She turned 1 earlier this month and just started walking.

During a normal season, he might have missed that and other milestones.

“I’ve got to see most of it this year,” Bjugstad said. “And we’re expecting another one in September. So I keep saying to my wife that I don’t know if I’ll be able to see as much considering I’m going to hopefully be healthy all next year. And we’re playing next (season). So with this one, I really got to cherish it.”

When Layla conks out at night, his wife, Jackie, and he binge-watch TV shows. They finished “Ozark” and he called it “awesome.” They knocked out “Tiger King,” too.

“‘Tiger King,’ everyone’s gotten into that. It’s just crazy,” he chuckled. “It couldn’t have been better timing for that show to come out for the quarantiners.”

In these trying times, he is thankful to have family and his relative health.

“If you can look at it in a positive light, that’s what we’ve been trying to do over here,” Bjugstad said. “Just take a step back — and obviously educate yourself on what’s going on — and just kind of be grateful that we’re healthy.”

The 6-foot-5 center said he flips over to “SportsCenter” every day and hears other athletes being asked when they think professional sports will resume.

“I just think no one knows. It’s such a tough call for everyone and obviously it’s in the hands of the doctors and nurses that are doing a great job and the CDC just trying to keep the curve low,” he said. “It’s just a waiting game. I try to stay in a routine and stay in shape. Obviously, nothing can replicate skating.”

Bjugstad said he is doing his best to be ready whenever the wait is over.

“I’ve talked to a lot of the guys and everybody’s kind of doing workouts, running, biking, doing what they can,” he said. “You’ve got to use this time to try to get the body right and you’ve got to have the mentality that we’re going to play.

“Even if it doesn’t happen, we have to treat it like it’s going to happen.”

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