RALEIGH, N.C. — In the days after the surgery that put Max Pacioretty’s right Achilles tendon back together — while he was still trying to piece together his new life in Raleigh — he started planning his recovery before he even got out of bed.
There were immediate details to handle. His wife had yet to arrive. He needed to find a house to rent. They had to find schools and hockey teams for their five kids. August is the month in which a hockey player changing teams builds the foundation for the new season, and Pacioretty had barely even gotten started.
But even as he managed all of that, he was already managing his plan to get back on the ice. He knew he wanted to get as much information about the rehabilitation process as he could, and he started thinking about other players who had been through it. He didn’t know Justin Williams, the former Carolina Hurricanes captain who suffered the same injury 14 years earlier, but he put Williams — still here and now a consultant to general manager Don Waddell — at the top of his list to call.
Williams beat him to it.
That first conversation led to a five-month partnership in recovery, daily conversations about the process, quiet practices on empty ice and an accelerated return to action.
“For me, Willy is just a smart hockey player and normally guys like that normally know their bodies as well,” Pacioretty said. “He helped me out with what I should feel and what I will feel and when to pump the brakes.”
Williams was 26 years old when he beat all expectations and was back playing only 78 days after his surgery. With Williams’ help, Pacioretty, 33, followed the same path, making his debut with the Hurricanes on Thursday, six months after he was acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights, 138 days after his own surgery and more than two weeks ahead of projections.
“Willy went through it, and to have somebody say this is how it’s supposed to feel and how hard you can push it, I think all that has been a blessing for Max,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said.
There were some differences between their situations — not only their ages, but Pacioretty was able to have minimally invasive surgery, saving him the long scar down the back of his ankle — but from two ruptured tendons, many years apart, a new bond formed.
“You look at your scars and realize you still have a long playing career ahead of you if you want it,” Williams said. “The last couple years he’s been bit pretty hard by injuries. Knowing it’s not the end, that you still have some pretty good years ahead of you, was really important for him.”
The truth is, Pacioretty probably needed someone like Williams on his side. It’s a lonely existence being injured, away from the group, especially wearing a new jersey in a new city. The Hurricanes spent a good chunk of the first half of the season on the road, leaving Pacioretty at home, a man without a team.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t difficult,” Pacioretty said. “You’re a competitor. You want to get out there whether your team’s winning or losing. I’ve played this game for a long time and you never want to show up to the rink and not be out there with the guys.”
He talked to as many players as he could who had been through or were going through the same thing. Anthony Duclair was six weeks ahead of Pacioretty, having torn his Achilles in June. He’s skating with the Florida Panthers but hasn’t played yet. Jean-Gabriel Pageau did it four years ago. Pacioretty found himself in a brotherhood he never expected, even if both of those players, like Williams, were younger when it happened.
With Williams, it was an every-day conversation. He became Pacioretty’s therapist and personal recovery coach who happened to know better than anyone exactly what he was going through. At the beginning, it was about pain and mobility and rehab and life. As Pacioretty healed, they transitioned to the ice, slowly working back to this point.
At each stage, Williams talked Pacioretty through what was happening, what would come next. It brought predictability to a process more often fraught with uncertainty and doubt. While Pacioretty’s parents and in-laws visited in shifts to help out at home, Williams was there to help out with the hockey.
“It was just kind of a daily thing,” Williams said. “I was just there to have him bounce ideas off of, make sure everything was normal, right? ‘Did you feel like this?’ ‘How did this feel?’ ‘Did this happen?’ ‘When did you feel comfortable playing?’
“I was just there to tell him yes, that’s normal, Max, this is what I did, this is how I felt. Those were all steps that I took week to week. Really, that’s what I was able to do for him. Just be around a little bit and skate with him while the guys were on the road, which seems like almost this whole year so far.”
Pacioretty was able to join the team for practice in mid-December, wearing a non-contact jersey. Three weeks later, he made his debut against the Nashville Predators.
“I’m happy with where I’m at,” Pacioretty said. “I’m much older than a lot of these guys who have had this injury, and that was kind of my competition for returning to play and how good you feel.”
Williams was watching his son play high school basketball Thursday night, but he got a text from Pacioretty before the game, one last exchange of thoughts at the end of it all, the final missive of an unlikely partnership.
