LA Kings: Matt Roy talks challenges of concussion recovery

Matt Roy returned to the LA Kings lineup against the Minnesota Wild, and he spoke at length about his road to recovery following a concussion.

On Tuesday night, LA Kings defenseman Matt Roy returned to the lineup, oddly enough against the same team that sidelined him a couple of weeks ago. If you recall, the almost 26-year-old was boarded by Wild forward Kevin Fiala, but Roy was able to travel home with the team. The same night, the Kings lost Sean Walker on a slapshot to the face, leaving Los Angeles scrambling for bodies in the back end.

Thankfully, Roy returned to practice, watching from the sidelines after a week or so of recovery, which provided a significant boost to his teammates just having him present. Drafted in the seventh round of the 2015 NHL Draft, Roy has blossomed into a ‘steady Eddie,” as head coach Todd McLellan likes to call him.

Prior to the LA Kings’ game against the Wild on Tuesday, Roy spoke at length about his road to recovery.

"“Yeah, it’s, it’s been good. You know, the first few days just laying low, trying to get rid of the headaches I was having,” said Roy. “And, you know, once I had a few good days, I started going for walks, you know, taking things slowly. And then I was happy to get in the rink, you know, do some bike rides and kind of slowly get back on the ice. So the trainers and strength coaches have been really good with me.”"

From the hit, it was obvious that Roy suffered some kind of head injury, but the truth in his words describing his concussion symptoms was eye-opening.

"“For me, personally, I mean, I think concussions are different for everybody,” the Michigan Tech product explained. “But for me personally is pretty hard, just not being able to, you know, watch TV without getting a headache, you know, I just kind of had to sit there and, and stay in the dark and stay in the quiet so it’s the days can kind of drag on and get a little long. So I’d say that was the hardest part. And then, you know, when I could watch the games, it was tough, not being able to help out and, you know, watch the team, watch the team play the games, you want to be out there with them.”"

Additional quotes from Roy on Tuesday.

On finding success against the Wild, having played them five times in 14 games

Yeah, I mean, I think a big thing for them is their foreshock. You know, they get on, they get on a steep pretty good. So, you know, I think we have to get back to pucks a lot quicker and a lot faster than them, obviously. And, you know, I think they’re really good once they kind of get scanning around ourselves. So if we can place quickly, I think that’ll tell us.

On getting back into game shape

For me, I just took it day by day. You know, some days you feel good other days you feel tired. So I just took it day by day and just kept pushing through it. And here we are.

On impressions of Austin Strand and Kale Clague

I think “Strander” stepped in and played pretty well and move the puck really well. So I think that helped us with “Claguer,” I think is really nice to step up. He was playing a lot more minutes, and I thought he was handling that pretty well. So I was happy to see them get some playing time.

Whether his recovery was gradual or instant

For the most part, it was pretty gradual. You know, you just start noticing less and less every day and then You know, you don’t want to think about it too much, because then he’s you might think you have a headache when you really don’t. So for me, it was a gradual process.

On how he used the downtime to his advantage

I’ve watched some of my games from earlier in the year, and it was nice to be able to watch the games on TV. And then when I went to Staples Center to watch the games, it was nice to get a new perspective on things watching, watching from up top. So, you know, I took it as a learning experience, and hopefully, I can apply some of the things I saw to the game tonight.