Phoenix Coyotes centre Daymond Langkow upbeat about second coming of conference finals-NHL News
Phoenix Coyotes’ centre, Daymond Langkow, aims to fully capitalise on the opportunity of playing in the Western Conference finals that has presented itself after more than a decade.
It is a remarkable comeback by the player given that his National Hockey League (NHL) career looked threatened at one stage due to a serious neck injury.
His return to the NHL itself was a surprise for the league but the player proved through his superb performance that the injury was unable to take a toll on his career.
Now he has gained another opportunity of playing the conference finals from the Coyotes, after lapse of the lengthy period of 12 years.
Coyotes are through to the conference finals after beating the Los Angeles Kings in the semi-finals.
The player has played with a number of teams in past without going through to the finals.
As he looks back in the past now, Langkow notes that at many occasions he thought the opportunity for playing in the finals was almost there, but that did not happen at the end.
He said:
"In Philly, we had a chance to go all the way and it didn't work out. But when you are a young guy, you're not looking that far ahead. You figure the next shot is right around the corner. Then the years go by and it doesn't happen. Now I'm getting to the
later stages of my career; you only get so many chances and you definitely want to make the most of this one."
In 2010, Langkow was seriously injured while playing for the Calgary Flames. He was hit in the back of his neck by Detroit Red Wings’ defenseman, Ian White. His career looked to be well over.
However, Langkow was able to recover fully and made successful return to the NHL. His form and performance seemed to have remained intact, not much affected by the injury.
Then, the player suffered another tragedy that his mom died. It really shook his strength and game level.
He said of the incident:
"With the passing of my mom. It definitely set me back for a few months. I don't think I was the same player. It was good to get back and be around the guys."
Away from those worries, he now looks to be very focused on playing in the conference finals.
Tags: