ESPNs Buster Olney is on vacation this week, but hes still compiling roundups. View Mondays roundup here.I felt the pop in my elbow and knew exactly what had happened.It was April 1, two nights before our first game of the regular season, and after sliding headfirst into home, I pushed off the ground to get to my feet, and I felt the pop.There was a split-second when a hope zoomed through my mind that maybe the same injury hadnt happened, but when I grabbed my right elbow and felt for the bone, I could feel the indent from a fracture. I had a flashback to the first time this had happened to me.Earlier in spring training, we had found out that the screw placed in my elbow during a surgery in 2010 had split in half, and I had missed a lot of spring training games. There wasnt anything we could do about that without an operation, but as the start of the season got closer, I felt ready to go -- until I started to get up after that slide.When I got to the clubhouse, Gary Waslewski, our team doctor, quickly examined my elbow and gave me a rough look. He knew what had happened too. Most of the guys still playing the game came back from the dugout and gave me a hug. Chip Hale, our manager, spent a good inning or two with me. Its all right, he said. Its going to be fine. There were a couple emotional hours, and Ill never forget the support I got that night, with the players and the coaches letting me know that they were there for me.That night, the X-ray machine at Chase Field happened to be broken, so we went to a hospital for an examination. I was assigned to a room and waited. It just so happened that Kate, my wife, had picked her dad up from the airport within the hour that I got hurt, so she rushed over. Judy Hale, Chips wife, was also a big help.They rolled a portable X-ray machine into my room, but I knew what the images would show. I didnt even bother to look -- not because I was disgusted by it but because it would only confirm what I already assumed. Kate played lacrosse at Notre Dame and knew what it would take to rehabilitate an injury like that, and she was pretty upset, and it became more of a case of me comforting her. (Or maybe she was upset because she knew she would have to deal with me at home the rest of the season.)I had a hard time getting to sleep that night. When you get hurt, you have a lot of stuff racing through your mind.I knew exactly who would do the surgery: Dr. Don Sheridan, who is one of the best in the world at what he does. I had surgery on my hand before, and he did that. We had become friends, and as we got ready for the elbow surgery, he gave me some confidence. He definitely gave me peace of mind by saying, Were going to fix this once and for all.It was a delicate and complicated surgery. He hoped to get the old screw out of the bone -- without making a huge mess of my elbow -- then take some bone from my hip for a graft to help new growth at the point of the fracture. But he had total conviction.I woke up after the surgery, and Dr. Sheridan came in, looking completely exhausted, like someone who had run a marathon. But he had prepared for hours for this, and he was fired up. He showed me, with a bunch of pictures from the surgery, how well it went. Everything is exactly where its supposed to be, he told me. For the first time in years, my elbow was in exactly the right alignment.Then Dr. Sheridan reached out with something in his hand and dropped it into my hand: the old screw. I saw the pictures of the hole where the screw was, and I have no idea how he got it out of there. It was pretty amazing. There were lots of hugs in that room.I began working with our great athletic trainers, including Ken Crenshaw, who is unbelievable because of the attitude he brings every day, the unselfishness. Id thank him for some progress we made, and hed say, Its all you. Clearly, thats not true. There were a lot of other people who have helped along the way, including trainer Ryan DiPanfilo, strength and conditioning coordinator Nate Shaw, physical therapist Ben Hagar and medical coordinator Kyle Torgerson. Its a complete team effort, and when you walk into the room and need something, theyll drop whatever theyre doing and immediately say, Lets do it. Theyre completely invested in making you better. Kate has been the No. 1 rock star, getting me ready for each day, making the meals and working on my nutrition, which mightve been the most important part of the healing.Six weeks into the rehabilitation process, I had a scan to determine how the bone was healing, and we didnt expect much. Having gone through this once before, I was thinking we might not have much healing at all. But you could see in the images that it already had gotten a lot better. There were only a couple spots that still showed the fracture line. Ten weeks in, we had another scan, and it was exponentially improved. By week 12, you couldnt see any lines from the fracture; it was rock solid. The whole thing was normal. It was incredible.I sent a text to thank everybody: our athletic trainers, Dr. Waslewski and Dr. Sheridan, and Dr. Sheridan responded with a line from the movie Apollo 13: This is going to be our finest hour. We had gone from that terrible moment at Chase Field on the eve of the season to a fully healed elbow in just a few months.I remember the first time I threw with Ken Crenshaw, something you have to do incrementally, starting with a tennis ball thrown just a couple of feet. That went well, so we moved up to a 4-ounce ball. Then a normal baseball. Everything felt great; everything was so smooth. When I took batting practice in recent years, I had to ease into it with the first swings of the day. Now Im able to take a full hack on the first swing.On Aug. 4, I got to begin my rehabilitation assignment. I got a single in four at-bats, and moving along to Class A, I homered in my first game with the Visalia Rawhide. On my drive away from the park after the game, I was thinking about how awesome it felt to be out on a baseball field. It felt amazing and powerful to be able to do that again. I didnt care where it was, in Class A or the big leagues. I was back on a field, healthy again, whole again. Nike Air Pegasus Sale . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. Air Max 3 Sale . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. https://www.wholesaleshoesforcheap.com/nike-acg-sale/ . "I was fortunate to play many years at this level with a great organization and unbelievable teammates," said Hejduk in a statement. Air Jordan 7 Sale . He was followed closely by David Clarkson, donning red, seconds later. Clarksons actions one night earlier, leaping off the bench in defence of Kessel during a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres, will cost him the first 10 games of the regular season. Nike Air Woven Sale . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014. WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Rookie Patrik Laine got the last laugh in his anticipated showdown with Auston Matthews, then cracked a joke or two after.Laine completed a hat trick 2:40 into overtime, helping the Winnipeg Jets overcome a four-goal deficit to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 on Wednesday night.Laine got the better of his first head-to-head matchup against fellow rookie Matthews, tying the game with 55 seconds left in the third before winning it in overtime. The confident Finn went second overall in the 2016 draft behind Matthews, despite Laines public insistence he should have gone first.I think it was just a normal regular season game, Laine said with a chuckle.Laine got his third goal with a wrist shot on a 2-on-1 rush. He swooped behind the net with his arms raised after scoring, and his teammates hopped on the ice to celebrate while hats poured down from the stands.Laine has four goals on the season, tying Matthews and three others for the NHL lead.Fans chanted Laine better during the game, music to the rookies young ears.Yeah, I heard something and that sounds pretty good, Laine said. Thats their opinion and Im not going to say anything about that.Matthews heard the chants, too.Its a great atmosphere, Matthews said. Obviously, Winnipeg is a great hockey city so thats what you get when you play these types of teams. You got to block it out and just have fun with it.Laine scored in overtime right after Matthews was stopped by goaltender Michael Hutchinson at the other end.Two great young players that are going to give their fans reasons to have nights like this over the course of the year, over the course of their careers, starting now, Jets coach Paul Maurice said. Weve just seen brilliance from both of them in the first four games of the season. Lucky for Winnipeg fans and lucky for Toronto fans we get to watch two great young players.Winnipeg was down 4-0 early in the second before getting goals froom Tyler Myers, Laine and Mark Scheifele, who made it 4-3 at 6:05 of the third.ddddddddddddaine tied it on the power play with Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly in the box for cross-checking Scheifele, who also had a pair of assists.That was a big play for them and Ill take blame for that one, Rielly said.In their season opener against Carolina, the Jets were down 4-1 early in the third and came back to win 5-4 in overtime.Nazem Kadri scored twice for Toronto and Connor Carrick and William Nylander also had goals. Nylander added an assist.Hutchinson made 36 saves for Winnipeg and Frederik Andersen stopped 29 shots for Toronto.Carrick opened the scoring at 6:46 of the first off a rebound, and Kadri made it 2-0 with a low shot from the slot at 16:12.Toronto then used a pair of power-play goals to make it 4-0 early in the second.Nylander scored with 2 seconds left on a five-on-three power play 6:47 into the second. Kadri followed with his second goal of the game 8 seconds later.Winnipeg got its own power play in the middle period, but Andersen made three great saves within a few seconds.A minute after the Leafs penalty expired, Myers and Scheifele got on a 2-on-1, with Scheifele passing the puck to Myers across the ice in front Carrick for Myers goal at 13:04 and the 4-1 score.Laine scored a minute into the third when he took a pass from Byfuglien at the point, turned and fired a wrist shot by Andersen.Five minutes later, Scheifele blasted a shot past Andersen on the stick side for his third goal of the season.Game notes Laine also has one assist for five points in four games this season. Matthews got his first NHL assist Wednesday and has five points in three games.UP NEXT:Jets: Play in Sundays outdoor Heritage Classic against Edmonton.Maple Leafs: Travel to Minnesota for a game Thursday. ' ' '
