Blake Geoffrion skates for first time since injury, still pondering future
A year ago, Blake Geoffrion was preparing for his third season of professional hockey. Today, he's contemplating whether or not he'll continue playing the game.
Geoffrion skated last week for the first time since a serious head injury suffered last November in an AHL game with the Hamilton Bulldogs. Playing the Syracuse Crunch at Bell Centre in Montreal, Geoffrion took a hit from J.P. Cote along the boards that resulted in a depressed skull fracture and the removal of a piece of his skull.
Seven months later, the 25-year old Geoffrion took to the ice again for a hockey camp in Chicago. According to the Brentwood Home Page, he's likely to make a decision within the next month on whether or not he'll attempt a comeback.
"I'm still kind of debating, going back and forth on a couple of things but I'm going to decide here pretty soon," he said Monday.
He's mostly weighing the risk he would be taking if he comes back to hockey, due to the severity of the injury.
"Mostly the risk involved, and making sure that I'm healthy enough and I'm recovered enough, and I can still play at the level that I want to play at and that kind of stuff," Geoffrion said.
In March, there was an ESPN report that said Geoffrion had told the Montreal Canadiens he was planning to retire. That came weeks after he told the media before a Habs/Bruins game, "I know in my heart I'll come back from this."
Blake's father, Danny, a former NHLer whose father was Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion and is the grandson of Howie Morenz, advised his son he would call it quits if he was in his shoes. But having only recently been given permission for light workouts, the door is still slightly open for a Geoffrion a comeback.
He's working his way back to being 100-percent, but Geoffrion may never get there, and at just 25, there are plenty of opportunities for him should he decide to give up his hockey dream.
That decision is proving to be the toughest.
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