Maletta joins Badgers
Jordan Maletta is back playing the game he loves after almost two years on the sidelines.
The 24-year-old St. Catharines native suffered a head injury early in 2018 while playing in the American Hockey League and only recently returned to the ice as a member of the Brock Badgers.
“It’s awesome to be back,” said Maletta, a former Ontario Hockey League player for the Niagara IceDogs and Windsor Spitfires. “It’s been 22 months since my last game and the whole time I’ve been itching to get back, but I wasn’t able to.”
Maletta was undrafted in the NHL, but progressed each season in the OHL and was signed as a free agent by Columbus in March of 2016.
He quickly impressed the Blue Jackets and began the 2016-17 season with their AHL affiliate in Cleveland, where he had a solid rookie season with 12 goals and 23 points in 76 games.
The future appeared bright, but Maletta got off to a slow start the next year and was dealt to the Arizona Coyotes in early 2018. Maletta played just one game with the Coyotes AHL affiliate in Tuscon, the last time he suited up competitively.
Fast forward almost two years, and Maletta admits it has sometimes been a difficult journey.
“I definitely had days or moments where I thought I was too far gone or it was too long, but I just kept training hard on and off the ice and it’s nice to see it happening,” he said.
Maletta wanted to play again, but was also aware how serious a head injury could be.
“It wasn’t too bad. It kind of stayed at that same level and never got bad, but never really got any better,” he said. “I slowly decided I wanted to take care of my body first. It’s the one thing you can never get surgery on, they can’t fix your brain and you only have one.
“Hockey will only take me to hopefully mid or late 30s, but there’s no guarantees in hockey, as I saw. I definitely wanted to be healthy first, both mentally and physically, and then get back into it.”
Maletta said through it all, he kept a positive attitude.
“I think there were mixed signals and emotions. I always knew it was going to come back. It was just more of a waiting game to see how I felt. It was more my decision to see if the risk was worth the reward,” he said. “I knew there has been all this controversy with head injuries in football and hockey and I definitely didn’t want to be in that position when I was done playing.
“I feel good enough I know that I can play still. I have all the tools to play still and felt too young to give it up and thought I would give it one more chance.”
Maletta made his Brock debut in a 3-1 loss to Ryerson Jan. 2 when he picked up an assist. He also suited up later that week in a 7-0 loss to the University of Toronto.
“I feel good,” he said. “It’s definitely going to take a few games to get back into it. I knew it was going to be tough to get back into it. It’s a litter tougher than I expected. “The first game I felt good and the next game I felt a little better, so I’m hoping in three or four or five I start to get back to where I was.”
Badgers coach Marty Williamson had Maletta with the IceDogs and is well aware what the big centre can add.
“I have a lot of fondness for Jordan,” Williamson said. “He brings experience and he’s a workhorse. He has a heck of a shot. He played in the American League. You don’t get those kind of players back too often. We’re excited to have him, but this is not something that happens quickly, as much as he wants it to happen quickly.”
Williamson said he noticed a big improvement in Maletta’s game from Game 1 to Game 2.
“I think that’s going to continue to happen for him. He started to look a lot more comfortable in the Toronto game. I really thought it would take to almost to playoff time for him. Even not totally up to speed, he’s still a good player out there.”
Maletta said the thought of injury doesn’t even cross his mind.
“If you think that way, you’re going to get hurt,” he said. “If you try to play safe, that’s when you get hurt. In the first game, I got crunched a few times. I wasn’t scared to go into the corners or use my body. Once you get hit and realize you are OK, maybe that little bit of fear or doubt comes out of your mind.”
Maletta is taking classes in math, science and finance this term and isn’t ruling out a return to Brock next season, although he would still like to play at the pro level.
“In an ideal world, it would be to play here and have a good second half and then be able to turn pro next year,” he said. “I’m definitely open to staying here and getting more education.
“This is a great league with great players, a lot of them I played with or against in junior.”
The Badgers, 10-9, are home to Guelph Thursday and at Western Saturday.
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