Posted by Pierre LeBrun
CHICAGO -- Just over a month ago, Taylor Pyatt didn't envision himself playing a game in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Vancouver Canucks forward didn't envision himself playing, period. On April 2, his world changed forever with the news his fiancée had died in a car crash while vacationing in Jamaica.
"For the first few days, I wasn't even sure if I'd even get back on skates this season," Pyatt shared with reporters Wednesday. "But, as time sort of passed by, a couple of weeks passed by, I felt the urge to get back to Vancouver, back around the team, back on the ice."
Back with his other family. A hockey team is very much a family, and he needs them right now more than ever.
"Being back here, among the guys, is the best therapy that I guess I could have," said Pyatt. "My family has been so supportive, all my friends. My mother [Kathie] has been in Vancouver for the last few weeks, my brother, as well. Just trying to get through day to day life again.
"But being around the guys has been the best therapy of all."
Pavol Demitra's injury opened up a lineup spot Tuesday night for Game 3. Pyatt took the ice for the first time since the tragedy.
"I still wasn't quite sure mentally if I was going to be OK until a few of days ago," said Pyatt. "I was able to get back on the ice, get a few shifts under my belt. I felt pretty good.
"I felt the time was right, I was ready to step in. There was never any pressure from the coaching staff that I had to play."
Needless to say, he's playing for someone that he dearly misses.
"For sure," he said. "Every time I go out on the ice, that's who I'm playing for. Absolutely."
ESPN.com Stanley Cup playoffs blog
