Why the Sharks are much better with a healthy Logan Couture
Logan Couture still has trouble with his ankle after games.
Couture suffered a fractured right fibula near the area in the first week of the NHL season, an injury that required surgery that kept him out almost two months.
Then when he came back, he suffered a small arterial bleed near his right thigh area two games later, which kept him out three weeks after surgery.
Considering the amount of medical problems he’s had this season a little soreness should be the least of the 26-year-old Couture’s worries.
“I don’t practice very often because of how sore (my ankle) is the day after a game,” Couture told Puck Daddy via phone. “But it’s something I have to get through. Injuries happen in sports unfortunately. We fixed it up. It’s not broken anymore. It’s all healed. I just have to learn how to deal with it and get used to it really.”
For the Sharks, keeping Couture healthy has been a chore – and one that’s taken on utmost importance for the team. San Jose is 11-3-3 with Couture in the lineup. Without Couture the Sharks are 14-15-1.
The Sharks are 7-0-2 in their last nine games – all with Couture in the lineup. During this stretch they’ve clawed up the standings to second place in the Pacific Division with 54 points.
“I think we have the pieces honestly. I do really believe that. We’re starting to play better hockey,” Couture said. “We’re playing systems that have been brought in by the new coaching staff. It took us a while to learn those and get used to those. When you have the same coaching staff for seven, eight, nine years or whatever it was and you change, it takes some time to get used to certain things and we’ve done that now.”
Some of this may be purely coincidental. According to War on Ice, 5-on-5 Couture is a minus-1.08 CF% Rel, meaning the Sharks possess the puck more when he’s not on the ice than when he plays. Also he has just 10 points in 17 games this year. But Couture’s presence, even if he’s not 100 percent, has given the Sharks more NHL-level depth in a conference that oozes multiple talented centers many rosters. A year ago, Couture had 67 points in 82 games.
As a versatile center, Couture has enabled first-year Sharks coach Peter DeBoer to have easier line match ups against some of the more rugged Western Conference opponents. Without Couture, DeBoer was forced to overplay some of his more veteran players, which can be tiresome over an 82-game season.
He’s kept 36-year-old forward Patrick Marleau at center and moved struggling center Tomas Hertl to Joe Thornton’s line as a winger.
There, Hertl has rediscovered his scoring touch with nine points in his last nine games. A 1-2-3-punch at center of Thornton, Marleau and Couture is as potent as any in the Western Conference right now.
“Pete and the coaching staff allow players with creativity in their game to be creative,” Couture said. “They don’t force guys out of their comfort zones. They’re not going to tell Joe Thornton he can’t carry the puck and he has to dump and chase every time. They’re not going to do that. They allow players to play to their strengths.”
When Couture suffered the arterial bled, he sent out a Tweet about how difficult the prior four months had been. He said he wrote that because he felt being injured meant letting the team down. Now that he’s healthier he can contribute again, which has helped his mental state.
“As a hockey player you want to play hockey and you don’t think of other things to do during the season,” Couture said. “It’s just hockey, hockey, hockey. Two months with my ankle was difficult because you feel like you’re not helping the team out. You’re letting people down even though there’s nothing you can do.
“And then to come back, work really hard and get myself back in shape and then go down a game and a period into my comeback was mentally tough for me. It was difficult to get through but I’m past it now and going in the right direction.”
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
