BUFFALO, N.Y. — Henri Jokiharju’s 2022-23 season changed in an instant on Oct. 20 in Calgary.
The Sabres’ 24-year old defenseman was skating back toward the blue line in the offensive zone when Kyle Okposo tried to dump the puck into the corner. The puck hit a stick and then struck Jokiharju in the face. Jokiharju dropped to his knees immediately as blood trickled onto the ice. Trainers helped him to the locker room.
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The Sabres went on to win a thrilling 6-3 game, but Jokiharju suffered a facial fracture and a concussion. He didn’t play again for another month, and when he did return he had a tinted visor to deal with the light sensitivity.
“It f—ed up your head a little bit, too,” Jokiharju said. “It wasn’t fun at all for sure. You have to battle through it but also know when you’re right and ready to come in so you don’t rush it. That’s the key.”
Jokiharju’s season didn’t get much easier from there. A few weeks after he returned from the concussion and facial fracture, Jokihjarju blocked a shot against the Penguins and landed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. He missed another month. By mid-January, he’d played in only 16 games.
“He was playing so well for that first week and I felt terrible about hitting him even though it tipped off a stick,” Okposo said. “You have an injury like that and it takes a long time to come back and when you get back you’re unsure of yourself. You’re thinking about getting hit in the face again and you’re just uncomfortable. He missed that point in the season where you settle into the year after the first two weeks, everyone calms down and finds their game. That’s what he missed. I don’t think he ever really got settled in.”
Okposo knows better than most how a concussion can impact you. In 2017, his world came unglued after a concussion triggered psychiatric concerns and a lengthy hospital stay. Every concussion is different, and every player will react in a different way.
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“It’s something that’s not quantifiable,” Okposo said. “You understand that you don’t feel 100 percent mentally and you’re trying so hard to get out there and nothing is really clicking and the more you fight the worse it gets a lot of the time. I’ve been there before. It’s not enjoyable.”
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Jokiharju, meanwhile, was dealing with a facial fracture at the same time. He was also 23 years old and playing a major role for Buffalo. Of his 1,261 of ice time last season, almost 1,000 of those minutes came on a pair with either Owen Power or Rasmus Dahlin, the franchise’s two cornerstone defensemen. Last season was one in which he had a chance to cement himself as part of the Sabres’ core.
Instead, Jokiharju had an uneven year. His plus-minus dropped to a career-worst minus-12 and he had a career low in points per game. The Catch-22 of professional hockey is that a major part of the culture is playing through injury, but you’re also judged harshly by those outside the locker room for your performance whenever you’re on the ice. Jokiharju can be a man of few words, but a lot of hockey players like to keep their injuries under wraps so they aren’t perceived as making an excuse.
“Joki’s a warrior,” Mattias Samuelsson said. “The guy battles through so much. I’ve never had a bad head injury like that so I can’t understand what he was going through. It wasn’t a little concussion. It was serious. I don’t think those are something you come back from and just get back out there. I think it’s always in the back of your head. I’m sure he was battling that for a while. He’s so professional and he’s not going to bitch or complain or whine or anything. He just went about his business and everyone knew this isn’t something where you’re going to be fine overnight.”
Okposo remembers what it was like to be Jokiharju’s age and worrying about what’s being written and said about you. It’s easier for Okposo, who is 35 years old and has $60 million in career earnings, to dismiss the opinions of those on the outside. He knows that’s not the case for younger players. That’s why he’s tried to create an environment in the locker room in which players can talk about those things openly. Okposo thinks these Sabres do that more than any other team he’s been on. If someone reads or hears something that’s bugging them, they can bring it up and teammates are happy to let them know that person doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
“Just by talking about it and being open about it, that helps,” Okposo said. “If you just read it and don’t say anything about it, it sits in your brain and it’s going to affect you way more. The fact that we talk about it I think helps.”
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Now almost 12 months removed from the concussion, Jokiharju said he feels better than he’s ever felt entering a season. Teammates have noticed, too. He has two goals in the preseason so far and has continued to skate alongside Power. Even with the additions of right-handed defensemen Connor Clifton and Erik Johnson, Jokiharju’s spot in the top six is secure. He has another opportunity to show what he can do in that role as he enters the final season of his contract.
“He looks like he has something to prove,” Okposo said.
Granato said the coaching staff has tried to get Jokiharju to be more assertive in everything that he does on both ends of the ice. That’s shown up in his offensive game. Granato also pointed out that as a young player, Jokiharju’s confidence tends to go up and down, so the goal is to get him to even that out. Even with the concussion behind him, bumps and bruises are inevitable playing the way he does. Jokiharju learned that at the end of last season when he went through multiple lower body injuries.
“He had to battle through a lot of wear and tear last year and you have to learn how to do that,” Granato said. “You have to learn in the NHL you’re not going to feel good very many nights. You might only feel good 20 nights. You have to learn how to play and be comfortable playing when you don’t feel good.”
Jokiharju is refreshed after spending the summer back home in Finland. The tinted visor is gone, and all that remains from last season’s injury is a small scar on his cheek. With his confidence back, his offensive skill is coming out again. More importantly, what Jokiharju went through last season makes him all the more appreciative of the fact that he feels like himself again.
“It wasn’t too much fun,” Jokiharju said. “You battle through that stuff. It makes you stronger in the long run. Hopefully we don’t get those this year.”
(Photo: Timothy T. Ludwig / USA TODAY Sports)
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