Kevan Miller has been on quite a roller coaster with his knee injury.
The Bruins defenseman missed the 2019-20 season after re-injuring his knee cap while attempting to return during Boston's 2019 Stanley Cup campaign.
So, how's Miller's knee feeling now? We'll let him tell you.
"I’m doing really well. Knee is feeling great, body is feeling great," Miller said, per a team provided transcript. "Obviously, had a lot of time to get things in order. I’m making really good progress. I’ve been skating two to three times a week. I’ve been training. I’m really, super excited to have the opportunity to play again. If we were playing right now, I wouldn’t be cleared. But come puck drop, I definitely will be. I have no doubt in my mind I will be 100 percent by then."
Miller said he was close to returning from the injury when he suffered a setback the forced him to miss more time. But that didn't stifle his will to return to the ice.
"In all honesty, after the second surgery – and I came back last year in October, I was days away from being cleared to play," he said. "And that’s what’s so unfortunate. It really wasn’t like a catastrophic injury. There was a series of kind of bad luck and some unfortunate things that happened and maybe a little bit of over training and a little bit of naïve on some aspects of it, how things would go. I was so close to being back. ... I have no real, true issues with the knee. No arthritis, no ligament damage, no nothing. It’s just a bone heal and a little bit of the quad tendon that needed a little bit of time. And that’s where I’m ready to go.
"I’m fortunate. I have a little bit of work still ahead of me but I know that come time when it’s puck drop, that I’ll be ready to go and I can promise you, I’ll be itching to get on the ice and pull that jersey over my head."
Miller re-signed with the Bruins on Friday, inking a $1.25 million deal to remain in Bean Town one more year. And, if you haven't noticed, he's thrilled to be back.
But the road to recovery was rocky, to say the least.
"I’d be totally lying to you if there weren’t some times where I was staring at myself in the mirror going, I don’t know if this is going to work. If I’m ever going to make it back. But through the support from my family, my friends, the coaches, my teammates, everybody that’s kind of been behind me – a special shout out to a lot of the docs and the trainers, they know who they are, that have really helped me through this. It’s been, it’s definitely been a test.
"But I think I’ll come out stronger from it and I know that my knee will be 100 percent and ready to go and I’ll have not one bit to worry about with that. I’m super excited for that. I think, like I said, I have some unfinished business to do and I just remember watching up in the stands, game seven versus St. Louis (Blues) and knowing I could help. I still lose sleep over that. I’m excited to be back and to be chasing that again. I’m really looking forward to getting back after it."
The NHL is aiming for a Jan. 1 start date. So, Bruins fans will have to wait just a little bit longer to see what Miller's got in store post-injury.
