Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Backstrom on concussion recovery: “It’s incredibly frustrating”

Backstrom Getty

Noted Washington Capitals blog Japers’ Rink has unearthed (and translated!) an article from Swedish news outlet Aftonbladet about Nicklas Backstrom’s recovery from concussion.

Aftonbladet spoke with Backstrom -- who hasn’t played since Jan. 3 after being hit in the head by then-Flames forward Rene Bourque -- about his status, how he’s feeling and what the worst part of his recovery has been.

[Note: These are from an English translation of a piece that originally appeared in Swedish.]

-- Backstrom’s listed as day-to-day (“as they say over here,” he noted) but hasn’t had much discussion with Washington brass about returning to the ice.

-- He’d “be lying” if he said he’s feeling 100 percent, but claims he’s no longer suffering from headaches and nausea.

-- Sounds like Backstrom’s been isolated from the team as he’s not even attending Caps home games at the Verizon Center, instead watching them from home.

That last note seems to have affected Backstrom more than anything.

“The only thing I can do is to just lie here on the couch and try to get better,” he said. “It’s incredibly frustrating, I get so restless, my body just itches to do something. But there’s nothing else to do but wait.”

Backstrom has 13G-29A-42PTS this season and is still Washington’s leading scorer despite missing the last seven games.