It hasn't been an easy start to the season for Cody Glass. Glass has played just ten of the Predators' 28 games after sustaining two separate injuries.
"I'm coming back finally, and I'm trying to stay in the lineup for good," Glass said after morning skate.
Glass's first injury occurred early in the game against the New York Rangers on October 19. The knee injury kept the 24-year-old center out of the lineup for eight games. Glass returned to the ice on November 11 and played four games before a shoulder injury late in the November 20 game against the Avalanche sidelined him for another nine games.
Glass returned to the lineup for Saturday's game against Toronto, a decision Andrew Brunette made based as much on the schedule as Glass's progress.
"I think he came into Toronto, and to be fair to him we could've maybe held him out another game or two and let him get some practice time, and we're just in that stretch," Brunette said.
In a stretch of the season where the Predators are playing every other day with a few back to backs thrown in as well, it's hard to get players back to being game ready in practices alone.
"We just don't practice right now," Brunette said. "We're just in that stretch. It's just morning skates so you think you get him in, get him a little feeling in Toronto, let him rest up the next night."
It's not easy to feel ready for a game when a player hasn't been practicing with the team.
"It's a little bit difficult especially if you're not in practice," Glass said of getting back to game speed. "Both times we went on a road trip so I was here by myself just stick handling, skating, doing that stuff with my trainers. There's no game stuff you can do in that situation. It's hard when you're skating by yourself, no one around you, no goalies, so everything feels so much different."
Without many practices under his belt, Glass jumped back into the lineup in the loss against Toronto.
"It's good to get back into it, but then again, it's all the intangibles," Glass said of his return in Toronto.
"One practice coming in, stick touches and all that stuff, obviously seeing how my shoulder feels. It was good. I want to just keep playing, getting back into my groove."
It isn't just the physical recovery after injury but also the mental recovery that takes work from a player. Getting that first game back with the contact and physicality is a step in the right direction, but it isn't always an easy first step.
"It's one of those things where you come back and you're like 'No, maybe I don't want to get hit again'. You're a little bit timid going into a corner. So it's a big mental battle that goes into it because I want to keep playing, but then again if I'm not getting hit, I'm not putting my body on the line, then my game just looks terrible," Glass explained.
"There's so many things that go into it."
Glass credits the team's psychologist, Vickie Woosley, for helping navigate those mental hurdles that come with injuries.
Ultimately the key to getting back into the groove is doing what you can off ice and then playing games.
"The more you play, the more you feel good," Glass said.
"Just playing more, getting the puck more, feeling the puck more will help him instrumentally here going forward, and hopefully tonight's a step in the right direction," Brunette said.
Glass will be back in the lineup as the Predators take on the Philadelphia Flyers at home this evening.
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