SUNRISE, Fla. _ For most of his hockey life Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad has only been showered with accolades and awards.
But this past season, Ekblad, the No. 1 overall draft pick in juniors and NHL, faced adversity.
Ekblad has already played in two NHL All-Star games and was the Calder Trophy Rookie of the Year recipient in 2014-15. He entered this season brimming with confidence on the heels of his first trip to the playoffs, and signing an eight-year, $60 million contract extension before his 20th birthday.
The troubles began before the season started in the inaugural World Cup when Finland's Leo Komarov shouldered Ekblad into the boards. First diagnosed as a concussion, it was later altered to whiplash. Either way, the combination of his second serious head injury in nine months and playing with a host of new defensive partners, led to the worst start of Ekblad's three-year career.
Gone were the end-to-end rushes that emulated his longtime mentor and agent Bobby Orr, a former NHL great. His rushed tape-to-tape passes were off line and his turnovers were ending up in his own net which led to just 2 goals and no assists in his first 15 games with a minus-7 ice rating.
"The first part of the season I wasn't skating back quickly to get the puck, (I was) worried about getting hit, making too quick of a play, not holding onto the puck and analyzing my outs and making the good, right option, the simple pass," Ekblad said on Tuesday. "That's what I mean by not being 100 percent mentally (ready) and that's what ultimately led to me not playing great halfway through."
After chats with Panthers president of hockey operations Dale Tallon, former teammate Willie Mitchell and team psychologist Derek Anderson, Ekblad was his 'old' self again in mid-January, firing pucks on net and piling up assists.
But then came another concussion on a hit from behind by Tampa Bay's Gabriel Dumont, which forced him to miss 13 of the final 14 games of the regular season.
"It was amazing to feel like you can just do things again, break through those barriers of the mental state that hockey is; it's a mental sport," said Ekblad, 21. "I had to break through that and I felt great from then on until when I got hit; I felt unbelievable out there. It felt like Year 1 and 2."
Ekblad said that despite at least four head injuries since his final junior season, he felt 100 percent after the season ended and won't have any lingering effects when he steps back on the ice next season.
"I'm a hockey player. I like to think I'm a warrior," he said. "I can take anything and bounce back."
Ekblad finished with a career-low 10 goals and 21 points in 68 games with a team-worst minus-23. Despite missing 14 games, Ekblad still posted 88 hits and 62 blocks, both more than last season. He led his defensive mates with four power-play goals and was tied for third among NHL defensemen with 225 shots on goal.
"Whether it was injuries or the coaching situation or any number of other things it was definitely hard," Ekblad said. "We're a team after a win we have a lot of fun and enjoy ourselves to the point where momentum builds and we feed off that like on the western trip when we won five in a row.
"You don't want to draw back on that too much considering what we did after it, but there's positives to look back on. We have a lot of talent in that dressing room. A lot of will and a lot of ability. When those two mesh together and chemistry builds, once we play together for a few more years we have a chance to do amazing things in this league and it's going to be real cool."
