Jari Erricson has done his time for a crime he did not commit.
He spent a full hockey season wrongly imprisoned in athletic purgatory, in concussion confinement, unable to function normally and in no position to fulfill his commitments to the Prince George Cougars.
Three games into last season, Erricson was robbed of his chance to score goals and kill penalties as a 19-year-old Western Hockey League veteran playing for his hometown team. It happened on the Cougars' first road trip of the season in Kennewick, Wash., when he got into a fight with Tri-City Americans forward Jessey Astles on Sept. 22, 2013 in retaliation for Astles' over-exuberant hit into the boards on Cougars forward Klarc Wilson. The fight ended when Astles decked Erricson with a full-on punch to the chin.
It left Erricson with a severe concussion and the symptoms lingered for months. His vision was blurred, he was sensitive to light, he had a persistent headaches, he couldn't take loud noises and he was forced to avoid the rink on game nights. He could spend only limited time on his cell phone, couldn't watch much TV or video games, and reading for longer than a half-hour was too much for him.
"The first two or three months was a lot of nothing," said Erricson. "The worst thing was not knowing what to do to fix it. There are so many different theories right now what to do to heal faster and I can't say what helped the most but I tried almost every option to try to get back on the ice faster. In my mind, the biggest thing was support from my family and friends and the team and that's what got me through it.
"I thought about [quitting hockey] but it's not time to give it up and I want to make one more push in my 20-year-old year," he said.
Erricson missed six weeks on the 2012-13 season with a concussion. He had his first brush with concussions the previous year at the end of his second season with the Everett Silvertips, but never experienced it in his Prince George minor hockey career.
Last December, when his condition showed no signs of improving, his parents Al and Catherine sought alternate treatments and learned about some of the success stories of Burnaby chiropractor and concussion specialist Stefan Sigalet and his work in treating several high-profile athletes. Erricson was treated at Sigalet's naturopathic clinic in December and March, where Sigalet focused on treatments and exercises that targeted the neck area.
"It was very helpful, It didn't get rid of every issue but it got rid of his headaches," said Catherine Erricson.
"One of the huge things they're discovering is the brain will heal itself shortly after, but people are getting lingering headaches or dizziness or vision issues because there's a problem going on with the nerves in the neck and the connection with the brain because the tendon is injured. So they use manipulations and some therapy and some types of injections that bring blood flow to that injured tendon area and then it starts to heal itself."
By the end of January, Erricson was back doing moderate exercises but it wasn't until May he was able to return to his normal training routine. Erricson's injury was a sign of bad things to come for the Cougars. Other key players -- David Soltes (knee), Alex Forsberg (concussion), Chase Witala (back) and Brett Zarowny (groin) all missed extended periods with their injuries and played a large role in the Cougars missing the playoffs for the third straight season.
Erricson has seen the minute-long fight with Astles many times on hockeyfights.com and can't help but think the officials should have stepped in to break it up before he got hurt.
"It was a long fight and one of the tougher guys and it went on maybe too long in my mind but there's nothing I can do about it, I should have picked a different opponent," he said.
Feeling fresh again and in shape physically and mentally, training camp began on Saturday for Erricson. He put on the No. 13 red jersey playing for Team Betts and scored two goals in a 6-1 scrimmage win over Team Connolly. Erricson had everybody in the building holding their collective breath late in the scrimmage when he crumpled to the ice after colliding with the goalie and had to be helped off the ice favouring his left leg. Turned out it was only a slight charleyhorse and he was back to finish the scrimmage showing no ill effects. He missed the morning scrimmage Sunday with leg cramps but it's nothing serious and he should play in tonight's Black-White intrasquad game.
"I'll still play hard and go to the net hard and play my same role but I'll stay away from the fights more and only do that when it's necessary," said Erricson, one of four 20-year-olds in camp
"I see myself being a top-line guy, just trying to lead the guys in the room and on the ice and playing in every situation. I'm a fast forward who likes to go wide on D-men and if I don't have that [option] I'll dump the puck in make plays and shoot as much as I can."
Erricson knows what a breath of fresh air the New Ice Age campaign started by the new owners has brought to the team and is anxious to experience the feeling of playing in front of a lot more fans at home games this season.
"There's no place I'd rather be than in Prince George right now," Erricson said. "It's really exciting being here. Going through the years as a young kid growing up watching Devin Setoguchi and those guys and the building packed and coming after school to watch the Cougars game on Friday night, I love those days. We went through the tough years here where the fans faded away and were waiting for change and for that to happen now in my last year it's really going to be exciting to be part of that on the ice."
Cougars head coach Mark Holick is looking forward to having Erricson around every night to set the tone for the rest of his teammates as a physical presence known for his ability to generate offence, kill penalties and block shots.
"This is his last year of junior hockey and he wants to do well and you know what you're going to get with him -- he's always working hard and always competing and he's not afraid of the physical stuff," said Holick.
"I hope he can find the net a lot more because we're going to need some goal scoring. He's done a lot of work to get to this point and I just hope he can stay healthy and if he can I think we'll have a good year."
