Around The Rinks: Nate Thompson's on the mend

Nate Thompson is so not winning the "How I Spent My Summer Vacation'' challenge. In 2015, the NHL center from Anchorage spent the offseason undergoing surgery on his left shoulder. This past summer he endured surgery on a torn right Achilles.

Yet Thompson is not throwing a pity party. He's actually doing the opposite – instead of moping, he's motivated. And while he still hasn't skated post-surgery – last Wednesday marked five months since the procedure – he has used his time off to fortify his body. He believes his rehabilitation, conducted in the Los Angeles area, is well ahead of schedule.

Thompson, 32 and in the final season of a four-year, $6.4 million deal with the Anaheim Ducks, was injured while doing off-ice agility drills in June. He planted his right foot to begin a sprint "and when I pushed off, that was it.''

"At first it was tough to swallow,'' Thompson said. "But the type of person I am, the character I think I have, I thought, 'If I put the work in, I could come back strong as ever.'

"You've got to take the positives out of the situation. I've been able to start from scratch, working on my body. I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life. My attitude is it's a chance for me to get in the best shape of my life and revitalize my career, and play longer.''

Thompson, a veteran of eight full NHL seasons for the Bruins, Islanders, Lightning and Ducks, is currently on long-term injury reserve. Initial indications from Anaheim were that Thompson likely would not play again until February or March. He sees himself returning sooner.

"I think I will absolutely crush that date – I don't think, I know,'' he said.

Hockey players immerse themselves in routine. Practices and games generally start at a consistent time, and that dictates players' meals and sleep and nap times, and all manner of scheduling.

Thompson isn't practicing or playing games, of course, but he still has a routine.

"Right now, my days are mornings of physical therapy and the gym after that,'' Thompson said. "I'm treating my physical therapy as my practices or games.''

Meanwhile, he has attended Ducks home games and games they've played in Los Angeles. He had dinner recently with Nashville Predators defenseman Matt Carle of Anchorage and caught up with Columbus Blue Jackets center Brandon Dubinsky of Anchorage when Columbus was on a West Coast road swing.

Thompson, who has played 520 regular-season NHL games, will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.

Away from rehab and the gym, Thompson is spending time with his 4-month-old yellow Labrador, Eddie. Thompson's black lab, Diesel, was 11 when he died in June. Eddie has a penchant for perching himself atop the back of the couch.

"He's 50 pounds already,'' Thompson said. "He's going to be a monster.''

The "Pride'' of Anchorage

Forwards Jordan Smelker and Zoe Hickel of Anchorage certainly savored 2015-16's inaugural season of the four-team National Women's Hockey League – their Boston Pride seized the Isobel Cup.

Now the Pride, and the Alaska women, have picked up where they left off. Boston is 5-0-0.

Smelker has delivered 2-2—4 totals in five games. Last season, she went 9-10—19 in 17 games.

Hickel owns 1-2—3 totals in five games games after last season going 3-3—6 in 15 games.

Goalies galore

Of the 16 Alaskans to play in the National Hockey League, only two have been goaltenders.

Ty Conklin of Anchorage, now retired and serving as a St. Louis Blues goalie development coach, played more than 200 NHL games for six different teams. And North Pole's Pheonix Copley in February made his NHL debut for, coincidentally, the Blues.

But there's a pretty good crop of Alaska masked men playing at elite levels.

At the pro level, Copley plays for the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League and owns a 1-2-1 record, 2.22 goals-against average and .927 save percentage. Stephon Williams of Fairbanks is off to a tough start for AHL Bridgeport Sound, going 2-4-0, 2.94, .890. He's won his last two starts.

At the Division I college level, Minnesota sophomore Eric Schierhorn of Anchorage is the reigning Big Ten Goaltender of the Year and the main man for the No. 8-ranked Gophers. He entered the weekend 4-2-2, 2.69, .895.

Kris Oldham of Anchorage, a Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick, is a freshman for Omaha. He's 2-1-0, 3.02, .895. And Andrew Shortridge of Anchorage is a freshman at No. 7-ranked Quinnipiac. He's 2-1-0, 2.34, .903.

Meanwhile, Maine commit Jeremy Swayman of Anchorage, plays for the USHL's Sioux Falls Stampede and is 2-5-1, 3.86, .897.

And in the major-junior Western Hockey League, Anchorage's Michael Bullion plays for the Portland Winterhawks – he's 2-5-0, 3.90, .893.

Big numbers for Bailey, then promotion

After two full seasons in the AHL, former UAA center Matt Bailey dropped down to the ECHL for the first time last month.

His stay two rungs below the NHL did not last long. After the AHL Stockton Heat loaned Bailey to the Adirondack Thunder, all Bailey did in six games was furnish at least a point in every game and deliver 3-6—9 totals and a plus-6 rating.

Last Friday, that production earned Bailey a promotion – the Heat summoned the 25-year-old back to California.