At this time last year, hockey wasn’t Mats Zuccarello’s No. 1 priority. It was getting back to normal.
Zuccarello, 28, suffered a fractured skull when he was hit by a Ryan McDonagh slap shot in Game 5 of the Rangers’ opening-round victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. While it didn’t look serious at first glance — Zuccarello was able to skate off the ice on his own — the ramifications of the injury proved bigger than anyone could have imagined. Zuccarello had bleeding in his brain, lost feeling in his arm and was unable to speak for several days.