Nick Bonino is grateful, but frustrated with his return to the Penguins
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At first, the man called “Bones” thought he broke … well… a bone.
A rib, to be precise.
As it turned out, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Nick Bonino suffered a much more distressing injury.
During a 4-3 overtime home loss to the New York Islanders on March 9, Bonino had a mishap.
“I got hit in the second period,” Bonino said. “My elbow kind of got between the boards and my ribs, and it jammed into me and I kind of lost my breath. So, I went off and we X-rayed it to see if there was a broken rib. It wasn’t broken. So, I made the decision to go back and play. Ended up not taking a pee after the second period, which came back into play later. I finished the game in the third (period). I worked out and then when I went to pee after the game, it just looked like red wine.
“I first made sure I didn’t eat any beets or tart cherry juice. Once we ruled that out, we went to the hospital. It was like a grade IV kidney laceration. Had to put a stent in with a scope, go up and look at everything. It was very unpleasant. It was two weeks of nothing (physical activity). Then slowly ramped it up and felt physically good probably with a week left in the (season). Had skated a bunch, but internally, it was tough to get clearance.
“Just definitely frustrated that I couldn’t help any more.”
Beyond the frustration, Bonino dealt with the uncertainty of his injury, which is fairly rare in hockey.
“It was different,” Bonino said. “It’s your organ. If you break a bone or you pull a muscle or tendon or something, it’s normal and you can fight through it. But when it’s a kidney and it’s a stage IV out of V, they were very — they weren’t concerned like my life was in jeopardy — but you really need to be careful with it. Nobody wants to pee blood for two weeks. That was the weirdest thing. Every day waiting for it to clear again, not to get too in-depth here.
“You’re happy that the doctors are looking out for your health, first and foremost. But as an athlete, it eats you because you want to be out there.“
Bonino was only out there for three games in his second run with the Penguins after they re-acquired him in a three-way trade involving his former team, the San Jose Sharks, and the Montreal Canadiens on March 3.
Had the Penguins not been formally eliminated from playoff contention Wednesday, he likely would have played in his team’s regular-season finale against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. And had the Penguins been opening a 17th consecutive postseason Monday, he definitely would have been in the lineup.
“I feel frustrated,” Bonino said. “I couldn’t really impact the team. Physically, I feel good. I would have been cleared for the last game (had it mattered to the Penguins’ playoff hopes). I just wish it was a little sooner. But it is what is.”
A member of the Penguins’ Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017 as the center of the famed HBK Line, Bonino departed in the 2017 offseason as a free agent and spent most of the past six seasons with the Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild and Sharks.
But his connections to Pittsburgh were not broken.
“I came back after six years, and it was so familiar,” he said. “So many familiar faces everywhere, coaches and players and the area. Four days after I got hurt, I was going into Giant Eagle to buy some soup. And a guy rolled his window down out of nowhere and was like ‘Get better, Bones!’ I think that’s Pittsburgh. The fans love the team. That’s what makes it even harder when we don’t succeed.
“I love everything about Pittsburgh.”
Given the Penguins’ mostly vacant front office following the firing of general manager Ron Hextall and president of hockey operations Brian Burke on Friday, Bonino is hopeful about remaining in Pittsburgh but tempering his expectations this summer once the NHL’s free agency period opens at the start of July.
“Just stay in shape, like I always do,” Bonino said. “Be ready to play. Hopefully, whoever is in here (as head of hockey operations), we can talk and see what’s going on. But there’s probably some bigger fish in here who are (unrestricted free agents) that they’re going to have to talk to.
“For me, just prepare for the (2023-24) season and see what happens July 1.”