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Retired Johnny Boychuk flourishing in unique Islanders role after eye injury

When Johnny Boychuk abruptly announced that he was hanging up the skates last November, he said it wasn’t a decision, but a life choice.

When Johnny Boychuk abruptly announced that he was hanging up the skates last November, he said it wasn’t a decision, but a life choice.

One that he made to salvage his eyesight, which had suffered irreversible deterioration in the form of poor peripheral vision and optic nerve damage stemming from two separate incidents over the course of his 13 years in the NHL.

Several doctors told the Islanders defenseman that if he continued to play hockey, his eyes could get much worse.

When Boychuk called Lou Lamoriello to tell him the news, the general manager without hesitation encouraged him to remain with the team. Though he couldn’t play anymore due to his impaired vision, Lamoriello and coach Barry Trotz wanted to keep him around because of the way he views the game.

“When you have someone like that, you’d like to keep them around,” Lamoriello said. “I told him what we thought and asked him to just think about it. It didn’t take long, he wanted to be here.”

So Boychuk got to continue lacing up the skates, joining the Islanders on the ice for every practice this season. Depending on the schedule, he would sometimes stay behind from one-game road trips and skate with the taxi squad.

He watches film with the team, takes notes and initiates conversations with players to discuss their game. When you ask any player about him, they say he is always there to put a smile on their faces, make things light with a joke and bring energy to the locker room — just like he did through his six seasons on the Isles’ roster.

Johnny Boychuk has moved into a coaching role with the Islanders.
Kathryn Howell/New York Islanders

Boychuk, who is considered inactive after his designation to the long-term injured reserve list, has carved out a unique role for himself that doesn’t exactly have a name.

“Johnny is just being Johnny,” Cal Clutterbuck said. “I think when you’re fresh out of the game, I think he might have a little different perspective than some coaches who haven’t been in the game for a while or haven’t been in the game, and he brings a lot of experience the same way he would have when he was playing.

“It’s just he’s wearing a tracksuit instead of gear out there, but he’s the same guy.”

Lamoriello has lauded Boychuk for his knowledge of the game. So much so that the reigning GM of the year, who is currently second on the all-time wins list, has had Boychuk sit next to him during games.

And though Lamoriello consults with Boychuk, so does Trotz. The 37-year-old Boychuk has seemingly become a sounding board for management this season, and someone who one of the most well-respected duos in the NHL relies on.

“He’s a good influence on some of the young players because he’s gone through it, especially our defense,” Trotz said. “He’s got a really good perspective from a player who’s still in the game, and when you talk to Johnny, he gives a real good perspective to the coaching staff on where a player may be.

“The new-age players are a little bit different than it was 25 years ago, and you have to evolve, you have to see where players are, and he has some really good tidbits — not necessarily on the players, but probably more of the way the modern-day players thinks more.

“Obviously, he’s been a teammate for a lot of guys, and he knows how they react to either positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement. He’s a really good buffer, he understands those guys, and they really have an admiration for what he’s gone through and how he’s played the games over the years.”

In 725 NHL games with the Avalanche, Bruins and Islanders, Boychuk finished his career with 54 goals and 152 assists. He hoisted the Stanley Cup in 2011 with Boston, chipping in three goals and six assists in 25 playoff games on the way to his first and only championship.

Prior to the Islanders acquiring Braydon Coburn from the Senators in April, Boychuk had the most playoff experience on the entire team with 104 postseason games. As the Isles gear up for their first-round series against the Penguins, which begins Sunday at noon, Boychuk will surely be someone the team looks to.

“It was tough losing Johnny, but him being around, he’s still a guy that everybody can kind of relate to,” Brock Nelson said. “Everybody looks up to him. Having him still be around the organization, I think it means a lot and speaks to his character. He means a lot to our team.”

Johnny Boychuk goes down with the eye injury that led to him retiring.
Corey Sipkin

As much as Boychuk would’ve preferred to keep playing, he quickly coined his own position and seamlessly transitioned into a whole new set of responsibilities that allowed him to continue his influence on the Islanders away from the ice.

Boychuk’s presence is something that the front office, coaching staff and players have made clear is part of their culture. And it’s looking like he’ll always be welcomed there.

“We will keep him if he’d like, and we will find a role for him,” Lamoriello said. “But it has to be a role that he feels he’s contributing because that’s the type of person John is.”

It’s something that’s evidently been on Boychuk’s mind since he found out he could never play again.

“Hopefully I can do it on the other side of the fence,” Boychuk said during his final press conference as a player. “That’s something I’ll have to figure out soon.”

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Mollie Walker

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