Sorry for the delay on this one folks as I’ve been dealing with some life stuff that takes precedence. The New Jersey Devils players, interim Head Coach, and General Manager held their final interviews with the local media a few days after the final game of a disappointing regular season.
By this point, you may have heard or read all of the quotes from the two days of 25+ interviews, and I’m sure my fellow colleagues have also detailed all that was said. But here are a few things that caught my eye (and ears) over the several hours that we hung out in the Devils’ locker room as a slow stream of players came in, one by one.
1. Timo Meier is a Badass
Pretty self-explanatory, but here’s why. Meier revealed that he played with an oblique injury and not one, but TWO sprained MCL. And when he mentioned it, he also threw in the “nothing too crazy” statement immediately afterward. Sorta explains why no. 28 had a slow start to his first full season in New Jersey. No doubt he probably tried to play through all of those injuries and that affected his play.
On top of having double MCL injuries and an oblique injury this season, Timo Meier will now undergo shoulder surgery.
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) April 23, 2024
Expected to make a full recovery in time for #NJDevils 2024 training camp.
Details ↓ https://t.co/OtEEytsA2h
But those are also injuries that won’t necessarily heal until his body has some rest. So the fact that he finished the season strong - 13 goals in March now looks even more impressive. Which is extrapolated even more when we also hear that he was dealing with a shoulder injury, that he didn’t mention that day, and recently had elective surgery to repair it. Every hockey player plays through injuries. We all know that it is part of their DNA. But Meier was on some next-level stuff this season playing through those ailments.
It was impressive to me that he led the team in goals this season, more so now that we know all of this. Equally impressive to me, with a few more days to think about this, was that he easily could have sat out, shut things down to get right, and come back next season, especially after just signing a long-term extension in the summer. All told he only missed 13 games. Next season should be a big one for Meier, provided he stays healthy.