‘How far can I push it?’: Avalanche’s Gabriel Landeskog determined to return
While the 32-year-old forward’s return to the Avalanche may not come this season, Landeskog is set to give fans a behind-the-scenes look at his recovery in a docuseries which will debut on Sunday.
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The last time Gabriel Landeskog took the ice in an NHL game, he skated off a Stanley Cup champion.
But that was almost three seasons ago at this point, as the Colorado Avalanche captain has battled a lingering knee injury, which led him to cartilage transplant surgery in May 2023.
In total, Landeskog has had four surgeries on the same knee since 2020, leaving his NHL future up in the air.
“Here I am, 32 years old, really wanting to play hockey and really wanting to continue and see where I can take this thing,” he told The Athletic‘s Peter Baugh on Tuesday. “I think that’s maybe where we are in terms of this whole thing: How far can I push it? How good can I get it?
“And I understand I’m probably not going to skate completely pain-free again, but I want to be able to get to a point where I can at least manage it and then make a decision for myself and see where we end up.”
Lonzo Ball, the point guard for the NBA’s Chicago Bulls, returned to the hardwood earlier this season after undergoing a cartilage transplant surgery of his own in March 2023 — giving hope that Landeskog could do something similar.
“I’ve decided to see this thing through, no matter how long it takes,” he said. “At the end of the day, I started it. I plan on finishing it.”
Over his 11 NHL seasons, Landeskog scored 248 goals and 571 points for the Avalanche, helping the team to the post-season on six separate occasions.
Currently in the middle of an eight-year contract he signed in 2021, Landeskog has remained on the long-term injured reserve as he recovers. But the Avalanche remain hopeful that he will be able to return to the ice eventually.
“Everything we do is with the hope that he’s going to play hockey again,” Colorado general manager Chris MacFarland said earlier this week. “The hockey world wants to see it. You want to see him get back out there and see how he can do. I think everybody’s behind him.”
