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Pothier Eyes New Perception continued...
“I thought I’d wait three weeks and be fine like before,” says the New Bedford, Mass., native.
Dizziness overwhelmed him, making everyday tasks like skating or even climbing stairs impossible. Doctors diagnosed him with post-concussion syndrome and sidelined him for 11 months. As both a hockey player since age six and now the father of young boys, Pothier felt frustrated. “I felt like a deadbeat dad,” he says. “I wanted to wrestle with my kids and push them on the swing, but I couldn’t because the whole world would spin.” The concussion was one more obstacle in Pothier’s stable but challenging career. After graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, Pothier failed to make the NHL draft. Instead, the Atlanta Thrashers signed him as a free agent during the 1999-2000 season. He then went to the Ottawa Senators prior to the 2002-2003 season in a trade for Shawn McEachern before being signed as a free agent with the Capitals in mid-2006. Now, watching his team and kids play from the couch, Pothier desperately wanted to return to normal. Yet he knew where to go at his darkest hour. “I sought God and prayed about it,” he explains. “I didn’t want to stop playing [hockey], but at the end of the day, it’s just a game. If God had something different for me, I told Him, ‘Game on. I’m ready.’ ” God did have something unusual in mind for Pothier. After seeing many doctors, the married father of three finally saw an optometrist in Dec. 2008 who diagnosed him with astigmatism. The condition – blurred vision caused by an irregularly-shaped cornea – stemmed from his most recent concussion. The hit had literally changed the shape of his eye. “My eyes and brain were not speaking the same language,” says Pothier, who previously had had perfect vision. “The signal from eyes to brain is supposed to take milliseconds, but my route was interrupted, kind of making my brain shut down.” The solution? A simple pair of glasses and some cutting-edge “visual therapy.” The glasses, which he wore even in the rink, alleviated the mass amounts of pressure on his eyes from the changed cornea. Within a week of wearing glasses, he was back on the ice for the first time in almost a year. Similarly, his doctors employed an experimental eye-strengthening technique called visual therapy. The sessions involved Pothier watching ropes, balls, and light boards. After six months, he had 20/20 vision again and now only occasionally wears glasses to suppress visual fatigue. “I really learned how sensitive and intricate and detailed we are,” Pothier says. “It’s pretty phenomenal how we’re made.” On Mar. 4, 2009, Pothier continued his recovery with the Hershey Bears, the Capitals’ AHL affiliate. On Mar. 16, he returned to the Caps, and scored his first goal in over 14 months – a game winner – against Tampa Bay before a sold-out crowd on Mar. 31. It was, Pothier says, one of his biggest athletic accomplishments. “I got a little choked up on the bench,” he admits. “I know people get injuries and can’t always come back. I was so thankful to be part of the team again.” Since then, Pothier and the Capitals have continued on an upward offensive climb, with Pothier scoring three goals and netting three assists during an early eight-game period. Capitals defenseman Brian Pothier puts his trust in God – no matter what happens on the ice. “We have a young, exciting team that not only can score but is starting to figure out what makes a defense successful,” he says, describing a Stanley Cup contending team that includes Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom, and superstar Alex Ovechkin. “We began the year giving up a few leads, but now we’re playing some really sound defensive hockey.” Besides his newly-rekindled NHL career, Pothier can again enjoy his family. He and wife Gwen have been married for nine years, with sons Jake and Luke, ages six and four, and daughter Reese, five months. Along with a four-year, $10 million Capitals contract, Pothier seemingly lives a perfect life. He acknowledges it can be easy to get caught up in the “glitz and glamour” of a professional athlete’s life. “If everyone tells you that you’re the greatest, you start to believe it,” Pothier says. “But I can’t take myself too seriously. Maybe I can shoot a puck really well. Big deal. I don’t measure myself as a person by the fact I play hockey.” That humble attitude traces to Pothier’s sophomore year of high school, when he first attended a Bible Study. “What the pastor was saying really made sense to me,” Pothier says. “God really showed up for me, and I felt fed in a way I never had before.” He accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour that night. Since then, Pothier stays plugged into his faith by listening to podcasts and sermons on CD and keeping accountability partners, especially on road trips. In a sport with very few professed Christians, he tries to let his actions speak louder than his words. “When I have something to say, hopefully [my teammates] can see the fruit in my life,” Pothier says. In the end, Pothier knows hockey doesn’t claim top priority in his life. “We can live in a hockey bubble and be self-centred. But I think as I’ve grown, my perspective has changed quite a bit,” he says. “I’d like to think I have a better perception of reality. It’s not about just me or about my little hockey game or bubble. I feel like having a relationship with God has really opened my eyes.” photos courtesy Washington Capitals
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