Adrian Dater
ONTARIO, Calif. – Bo Byram had just played his first game in more than three months, against an AHL team that seemed to take particular relish in going out of its way to test him physically – with hits and extracurricular activity that started to border on “Slap Shot” equivalence toward the end. It was worrisome to see, particularly when Ontario Reign forward Martin Frk started throwing haymakers at Byram’s head in a third-period mini-brawl that started with a hard hit on Byram along the boards and a Byram slash to Frk’s legs.
After the game, though, Byram was upbeat and smiling, even conversing with a couple players from the Reign in the hallway, including former Avs and Colorado Eagles player T.J. Tynan.
In his first public comments since taking a personal leave from the Avalanche right before Christmas, Byram Friday night told Colorado Hockey Now he was encouraged by how the night went – and not just on the scoreboard, an 8-1 Eagles win.
“Whenever you miss that amount of time, you’re not going to be perfect coming back. And I think I definitely wasn’t perfect. But I think I played a pretty solid game,” said Byram, who played a regular shift the whole game, but didn’t put any points on the score sheet and was even in plus-minus. “I think with the puck I was pretty good. Some mental lapses on the defensive side of the puck. That’s always the hardest part to come back to, defending, boxing guys out, retrieving pucks, that kind of thing.”
Byram is savvy enough to know what everybody wants to ask him: how does he feel? What are his thoughts on this, another comeback from injuries that have mostly been centered around concussions and their after-effects, what have the last few months been like? Byram doesn’t want to look too far ahead, and that’s probably a smart thing. But for Friday, April 1, 2022, Byram said he felt fine – even after a very rough-and-tumble first game of a three-game, six-day conditioning loan to the Eagles from the Avalanche.
“I don’t think I necessarily needed a scrum, where I was getting punched in the head,” Byram said. “But that’s hockey. It’s a physical game. I’m not too worried about it. I feel good. So, I’m just excited for tomorrow.”
Byram has said before he’s felt great after returning from injury, only to go back on the shelf. But, again, today was a good day. Things seem positive again. He’s been skating and practicing regularly for a couple of weeks now, and now he’s got game action under his belt again.
“I mean, it’s a process. I’ve been taking it day by day for, I don’t know what it is, three months now. I mean, I don’t want to rush anything. Like I said, I’m feeling good right now and had a lot of fun tonight. I felt good and just taking it day by day,” Byram said. “I feel like I’ve had that conversation (with the media) so many times over the last couple years. It is what it is. I’ve been hurt, trying to get back in the lineup. I mean, I expect those questions, but, I mean, my answer will always stay the same: I feel good, I’m playing hockey, I’m super-excited to be back playing and just want to help the Eagles win as many games as long as I’m here.”
Byram was paired with Dennis Gilbert on defense, and you could tell he doesn’t quite have his sea legs just yet. But he got better as the game went along. The melee with Frk drew a heated response from Eagles teammates on the ice at the time, particularly Martin Kaut, who scored two goals in the lopsided win.
Byram turned away from Frk’s charging hit into the boards, but it was borderline dirty and Byram gave Frk a good, hard slash in return.
In a small postgame spread, Byram helped himself to a protein shake or something of that kind and some peanut butter and bananas – which might not be the Ritz, but, hey, this is the minors.
If all goes as hoped, he won’t be here too long anyway.