After knee surgery, Gavin Hain picks up where he left off
Oct. 8—GRAND FORKS — Gavin Hain was playing the best hockey of his college career last winter.
Long known for his defensive capabilities, the forward from Grand Rapids, Minn., suddenly became a clutch scorer. He scored goals in four-straight series — against Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota, St. Cloud State and Colorado College. Three of them broke tie games and gave UND the lead for good.
But his season suddenly came to an end in early January, when he got tangled with a Cornell player in the offensive zone and tore his ACL and MCL. Hain had season-ending knee surgery shortly thereafter.
"One of my goals throughout the summer was to start, right away, the season where I left off last year or even better than where I was last year," Hain said. "That was definitely a goal for me, not only physically but mentally.
"It was a tough summer. It was a lot of work to get back to where I wanted to be at the start of the year here. It was a long, hard summer. To be able to be where I'm at right now, I'm pretty happy."
Hain returned to the ice Friday for his first regular-season game since suffering the season-ending knee injury, and the fifth-year senior did, indeed, pick up where he left off.
Hain scored a goal in the first period of
UND's 6-0 win over Holy Cross
in Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Excluding the game where he suffered the injury, Hain has now scored in four-straight games and in five of his last six.
"It was awesome," Hain said of his return to action. "It's one thing when you're up in the stands, watching the team and seeing the crowd. It's another thing being on the ice, battling with your brothers and having the crowd on top of you. It's a pretty special thing."
Hain's goal came at 11:47 of the first period. Linemate Louis Jamernik V stole the puck in the neutral zone to start a rush the other way. Hain split the defenders and got alone on top of the crease.
Jamernik V centered the pass to Hain, and the winger roofed it from in tight.
"The goal that Hainer scored, that was a great play by Jammer throwing it across," UND coach Brad Berry said. "But he had to reach for it and have strong hands to direct it in. That was a high-end goal and those guys have that."
Another sign the coaches are pleased with Hain's level: He's on the second power-play unit, holding down the net front/goal line spot.
"He's earned that," Berry said. "He was red hot before he got hurt. It was a long process to rehab and come back in, but I think he looks really good. He's excited to play. It's a situation where I think as it goes, he's going to get better and better by getting more game experience after being out half a year."
Hain, a Philadelphia Flyers draft pick, could have moved on after last season, but he opted to come back and play one last year in Grand Forks.
"I had conversations with the coaches and it just felt right," Hain said. "When you get a chance to come back to a place as special as this. . . obviously, our goal this year is to hang a green banner. I've yet to do that in my time here. So, when you get a chance from the coaches to come back to a place like this, it's pretty easy to come back to."
