Healthy and Comfortable, Akil Thomas Finding Early Season Form With Ontario - LA Kings Insider

Last updated Oct 31, 2022 Edit Source

• News post

• Jack Jablonski

A lot can happen in 12 months. For Akil Thomas, that cliche could not be truer. At this point last season, Thomas was away from his Reign teammates, not cleared for contact and separately rehabbing two offseason shoulder surgeries. He had yet to make his season debut and wouldn’t for a month to come. Fast forward one year and a healthy Thomas has gotten off to an impressive start to the young AHL season, which has him beaming with pain-free confidence.

• Akil Thomas

# Akil Thomas

I thought it was going to be easy and a walk in the park actually, I really thought I could just be patient and I wouldn’t be effected mentally. After the [shoulder surgeries] it took a long time to recover. I started to be affected mentally right around training camp last season because I was away from the group and they were all on the ice together, and at that time I couldn’t even shrug my shoulders. That’s when I realized that it wasn’t going to be easy and it was going to be a long road ahead.

Once I did start playing [in games], it was still tough because I wasn’t the same player yet and I didn’t feel like myself. It took a while to get back on my feet even when I was playing. I talked to some people to help me with my mental health to help me get back my old self and I think that was just big for me going forward. I was able to refocus, think about what kind of year I had the season prior and kind of get my thoughts towards the remainder of the season. I just tried to stay patient and come to the rink with a good attitude, a positive attitude, and use every day to get better as I continued to come back from my shoulder surgeries.

I would say I didn’t feel like my total self until the rookie tournament this year (September 16-19). Even in the summer I didn’t really feel one-hundred percent, so obviously when you have two brand new shoulders it takes time to trust them. It took time for my touch for the game to come back, I think that was kind of the biggest thing for me to regain. I think my game kind of revolves around my touch, my feel and my patience with the puck. It definitely took time.

Just being able to work out regularly this summer was huge, the last few summers I’ve had shoulder issues because of what I fixed last year, so this offseason was the first healthy offseason I’ve had in about four or five years. It’s been a very freeing summer and it really helped me mentally.

This offseason I wanted to get faster and wanted to get stronger, especially in the upper body. I wanted to become a little bit more confident with the puck and improve skating a little bit more, which could me to make more plays with the puck and play a little bit riskier. I also wanted to build my engine up kind of, being able to last longer and be more durable during shifts. I felt like I pretty much hit all the dots in terms of my personal goals this offseason and I feel great now.

We all came into the AHL at same time and you know, Madds and I have battled injuries and whatnot. I also think just like we’re more experienced being in our third year of professional hockey. In making the little plays and scoring a goal here and there that we probably wouldn’t have made a year or so ago. The experience has been the key but we’re all buddies, we all lived together in our rookie season. We want to be better for each other and I honestly think we have a lot more, as a line, I think we can do a lot better. I think we have some more in the tank, but it’s been a pleasure playing with [Aidan Dudas] and [Tyler Madden].