Geneva-Canadian Daniel Winnik wants to come back stronger: ‘When I heard it crack, I thought my career was over’

“But it could have been a lot worse,” says Winnik as he watches the training on the ice rink. “Honestly, when I heard it crack, I thought my career was over.”

Talking about his situation moves the 38-year-old. Winnik is known as a tough guy and remains on the ice after his duel with Ambris Virtanen, writhing in pain. He remembers the scene that has now sidelined him for six to eight weeks. ‘I felt three pops at the same time. It was the first time I hurt myself like that and I didn’t know what was going on. But I immediately felt a lot of pain. It felt like my knee was broken. It was swollen and I had to drive back to Geneva. That bus ride was horrible.”

“This helps me heal”

After a short night of uncertainty, he went to Geneva the next morning for research. The fact that he will be out for ‘only’ six to eight weeks reassures him somewhat. “Right now there’s nothing I can do but wait,” he explains. “It hurts just to touch my knee.”

The fact that he is on Team Canada despite his injury is not in question. “My wife and children are here and also my family, who came from Canada,” he says. “It had been planned for a long time and I didn’t feel like canceling it now that I had to put a large part of my season on hold.” Winnik therefore puts himself at the service of the team. “Being there heals me,” he assures me. He was going through a difficult time mentally because he had never been injured so seriously.

Encouraged by Joe Thornton

Joe Thornton, his former teammate at San Jose and current general manager of Team Canada, gave him confidence. “He told me that this injury was not something against me, but for me,” Winnik reveals. “I have to use this to my advantage. Because I am already thinking about my future career and am interested in coaching, I am now doing a kind of internship with Team Canada during the Spengler Cup,” he says with a smile. During the matches, ‘intern’ Winnik sits in the stands and checks whether he must provide the technical staff with information about certain adjustments that the opponent has made.

As a very emotional player on the ice, he learns to moderate himself in this different role. But Winnik has no plans to hang up his skates yet. He has already circled a date on his calendar when he would like to play again. “The Champions League final coincides with the moment when I want to play again.” To achieve this, his Servette teammates still have to overcome Lukko Rauma’s semi-final obstacle. Maybe as a gift for him.