Concussions, headaches nearly took away Rourke Chartier's NHL dream. Wednesday, he'll play for the Ottawa Senators vs. Carolina Hurricanes.
For two years, from February of 2019 until February of 2021, Chartier stayed away from contact hockey, focusing on regaining his health.
It started with a hit to the head during the American Hockey League playoffs in May of 2017 in his first season with the San Jose Barracuda, the minor-league farm team of the San Jose Sharks, who selected Chartier in the fifth round of the 2014 NHL Draft. Despite headaches, he played in the next two games.
He had contract offers, but decided it was best to walk away to get right. He stayed with his parents, Marc and Yvette. “I always had hopes I was going to come back. I stuck by that and tried to get as ready as I could. I never really thought I was done, I don’t think there was really a moment where I said, ‘This is it.’ But if I said there weren’t any bad thoughts in my mind during that time, I’d be lying.”
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