Hamilton: My Teeth Were Not in the Right Spot | FEATURE

Dougie Hamilton knew there was something wrong right away.
If it wasn't the blood perforating from his mouth, it was certainly his teeth.
"My teeth were not in the right spot," Hamilton said calmly as he met with the media for the first time since his injury.
And what was to follow was a long road to recovery in his first year as a member of the New Jersey Devils
"I guess (it has been) a little bit of a crazy journey since that moment."

Hamilton has been injured before in his career, where he's had to sit out stretches during recovery. But this type of injury, a first for Hamilton was challenging in a different way.
"It's different than like a leg or shoulder, where you're limited," Hamilton said, "and with a jaw, I guess it's more limited to avoid contact and all that stuff."
For several weeks, Hamilton has been skating, shooting and stickhandling, solo on the ice, before his teammates would take to the ice for regular practice. Everything but his jaw has been raring to go, and that takes a mental fortitude when your body feels ready, but there are still precautions that need to be taken.
"It's a little bit tougher with a jaw, because you can skate, you can work out, you can stick-handle, all that stuff," Hamilton shared of the process, a process which has also involved finding the right face protector for when he does return to game action. It's not a one-size-fits-all type of shield, and it's one that it vitally important to make sure Hamilton and the team have right.
"Playing with the protector, trying to figure out which one's best and what's going to feel the best and protect me the best," he shared of the next, and perhaps the last step before his return to play. "It's I think that's a tricky thing too. With where I broke it, I can't wear certain masks because it's like right on my chin."

Although Hamilton did not accompany his team on their most recent three-game road trip, prior to the All-Star Break he did travel with the club to Tampa Bay, Carolina, and Toronto between Jan. 27 and 31. He was still in a no-contact jersey at that point, but it was an important part of the mental process of any healing process, and one that should not be overlooked.
"That's probably the hardest part, is not being a part of the group and wins, losses, highs, lows." Hamilton shared, "I mean, you want to be part of that stuff. So, you don't really feel part of the team when you're not out there playing and you know, it was (important) for me just try to be around as much as I can."
Hamilton's surgery required inserting plates into his jaw and with that came a soft-food diet. He was restricted on being able to chew, something that has slowly subsided, "I'm able to chew a little more and still not fully chewing, but definitely a lot better now," which is surely something that will help the 28-year-old regain his full strength, that's where he wants to be when he puts on a game jersey for the first time since Jan. 2.
"Now it's (about) getting back to the battling and getting comfortable with my jaw getting hit," he said of his first day of full practice, and the removal of the no-contact jersey. Head coach Lindy Ruff suggests today's participation means that he's "closer, and closer", and when he's ready he'll just "just slot right back to where he belongs" on the Devils top pairing and on the power-power play.
"Really as soon as he feels good enough, he'll be back in the lineup."
Hamilton is not out of the woods yet, but it sure feels like his return is on the horizon, and recovering will be behind him.
"That's been my last little bit of my life, and hopefully we get to a point (soon) where everything's good and (I'm) back to getting on the ice."