Wideman remains positive during recovery from hamstring tear

Chris Wideman remains hopeful for a possible return to the ice this season as his recovery process gets set to shift back to Ottawa.

The 28-year-old defenceman suffered a hamstring tear against the Pittsburgh Penguins back on November 19th on a play he recalls being a "freak accident".
"I remember that Andy made an unbelievable save on an amazing backdoor pass," recalled Wideman. "The puck came back out in front and I just tried to clear it right as a stick got caught under my foot which kind of pushed my leg out."
"My skate got stuck and I did the splits then I heard a pop and everything kind of went numb."
Wideman underwent surgery in New York on December 4th where he found out that the severity of his injury may actually help with his recovery time.
"The hamstring was torn right off the bone," he said. "It was so clean that the surgeon said that I made it easy on him so that ended up actually being a good thing."
After being laid up for about 10 days, he was able to return to the gym in mid-December where he's been focused on improving his upper body strength while his hamstring recovers from surgery.
"I was able to get back in the gym fairly quickly and I started lifting some weights and doing some upper body exercises," said Wideman. "I've been doing that for almost 6 weeks now and that's been going really well. I'm getting a lot stronger than I have ever been."

With the grim news of a lengthy rehab process a reality, Wideman remains focused on the positives which included spending the holidays and his birthday at home in St. Louis for the first time in over a decade.
"It was special to be back here with my family," he said. "I was fortunate to be able to spend my birthday at home for the first time in probably 15 years so that was really cool."
The St. Louis native credits his mom and his girlfriend for their help during the entire process since there are still a lot of basic, everyday things that he's unable to do.
"My mom and my girlfriend have been unbelievable through this whole thing," said Wideman. "It started with them helping me change my socks and now it's getting me to and from rehab since I'm still not able to drive."
"Without them I would not have been able to get through this process."
During his 25-game hiatus, he's also rarely missed watching his teammates play.
"I think I've only missed watching about 2 or 3 games and that's mostly because of the holidays," Wideman said. "I've seen pretty much every game since my injury and it helps me feel like I'm still part of the team and still involved."
He'll be much more involved this week as his rehab brings him back to Ottawa for the first time in nearly two months. He's expected to meet with doctors in Ottawa on Thursday where he'll also be in attendance to watch his teammates host the St. Louis Blues that night.
"I'm just so excited to get back and be around the guys. That's probably the biggest thing that you miss when you're away," he said. "They're a great support system and there's nothing like being part of a team so I'm definitely looking forward to that again."
With a return to Ottawa imminent, Wideman can begin to look forward to some milestones on his recovery checklist which incluces resuming skating and could happen sometime in February.
"I was told 10 weeks from the surgery date and that was December 4th so I think that if I'm not ahead of schedule, I'm definitely right on it," Wideman shared. "There haven't been any setbacks and I've tried to stick with the doctor's protocol in terms of the rehab."
While no timelines have been established, Wideman remains hopeful that a return to game action is in the cards for this year as he works diligently to rejoin his teammates at some point in the later part of the season.
"It's been a nightmare situation but I'm trying to look at it like the glass is half full," said Wideman. "I'm doing everything I can to get back and play this season and that's really my goal."