NASHVILLE, TN - This isn't hockey, this is perspective.

And whether you're an NHL first-round draft pick, development camp invitee, development coach, an NHL coach or part of an NHL team's staff, listening to former Humboldt Bronco Ryan Straschnitzki speak reminds everyone in attendance that the game and life sometimes mean different paths altogether.

From the moment Straschnitzki rolled into the Nashville Predators dressing room, filled to overflowing with attendees at their 2022 development camp along with team coaches and staff, it's clear that those in attendance have a front row seat at the intersection of life and hockey.

A few short years ago, Straschnitzki, 23, a promising defenseman playing in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, might have dreamed of being where the 35 prospects are sitting.   Instead these young men, stars in their own right in their own towns and on their own teams, have given Straschnitzki and the story he is telling their undivided attention.

Straschnitzki recalled how on the morning of April 6, 2018, he and the rest of his Humboldt Broncos teammates were preparing for an elimination playoff game against rival Nipawin in the semifinal of the SJHL playoffs. He recalled the normal routine the team followed that day. An early gathering at the rink, light workout, breakfast with teammates, back to billet homes and then returning to the rink to pack for the trip.

About half an hour from the expected arrival in Nipawin, Straschnitzki put on his dress clothes for the walk into the arena.

"I sat down in the aisle chair and closed my eyes. Focused. Prepare. Everything's quiet," he recalled. "All of a sudden there's a scream from the bus so I poke my head down the aisle. Bus driver's got both his hands on the wheel. He looks to his right and instantly I see a semi-truck coming this way."

Sometime later - he is unsure how much time exactly - Straschnitzki recalled waking up propped against a section of the transport and being determined to get up. But he couldn't.

"I just opened my eyes and saw the mayhem. Debris. Teammates, you name it. All in front of me. Now I don't know why I was conscious. I wish I wasn't but that's just life," he said. "My first instinct is just get up. But I go to move but I'm stuck go to move again stuck again."

He looks to move whatever is impeding his process but there's nothing on top of his legs to prevent him from moving.

"I try to yell but I can't. I have broken ribs, punctured lung, brain bleeding. Just pretty much immobilized," Straschnitzki said. "In that moment this 18-year-old kid went from being a junior a hockey player to being on the brink of life and death. Are these my last moments on this earth? Is this what I'm going to see before I die?"

A bystander came and waited with the player until ambulance came by marking the first steps on an entirely different journey than the one he set out on that morning.

The crash claimed 16 lives and altered the future for how many others connected to the crash?

The news of the tragedy reached every corner of the hockey world something Straschnitzki, paralyzed from the chest down as a result of the accident, is reminded of as he has traveled extensively during his rehabilitation and in giving talks like the one he delivered to the Nashville Predators.

"It's crazy. I mean around the world people know about it and the support we get is incredible," Straschnitzki said. "It helps us all move forward, kind of use that to motivate us. We have so much support and we want to give back. I wish I could thank every single person that sent their wishes my way."

In some ways part of Straschnitzki's journey is a thank you for that support.

"All you can do is use that to your advantage. They want to see you succeed so physio, hockey the more I push forward the more I make progress the happier I think myself and I think everyone else feels," he said.

Straschnitzki has attacked his rehabilitation with vigor and enthusiasm no matter the effort, both mentally and physically, that has been required.

On one video played during the session in Nashville there are images from Straschnitzki's recovery. There is a clip from parents Tom and Michelle who recounted seeing their son for the first time in the hospital and how one of the first things Straschnitzki talked about was how he thought he'd like to try sled hockey.

Straschnitzki had cutting edge surgery performed in Thailand that involved inserting an epidural stimulator in his spine and then had the procedure, which helps stimulate nerves and helps the process of moving limbs, updated this past spring.

He keeps abreast of new technology and treatment options and dreams of walking on his own again. But as soon as he was given clearance, Straschnitzki was on the ice trying out the equipment and learning the intricacies of sled hockey.

His first time on the ice is documented on video and he described having to learn a whole new set of skills from the ones he had mastered as a top flite junior defenseman. He joked at how tough sled hockey can be with the picks on the ends of the shortened sticks used to propel players around the ice and quickly transition to passing or shooting and described learning the hard way with cuts to his forearm.

Straschnitzki has started a charitable foundation and along with regular training in Calgary in hopes of making the national sled hockey team and ultimately winning an Olympic gold in the paralympic games. He has also started to refine his skills as a public speaker.

As most people will admit public speaking isn't a natural gift in fact it can be downright terrifying. "This is something I've kind of adopted after the accident. It's something that I wasn't used to before. Public speaking wasn't my thing. I would get nervous," he said. "But after the accident and talking to people it sort of grew on me. I was okay, I'd better get good at this because it's going to happen a lot more."

Schools and youth hockey organizations have been eager to have Straschnitzki come and share his story of perseverance and hope with their students and players.

"So that when they face adversity and challenges they know how to react. They know how to use their minds to the best of their abilities," he said.

He's also spoken to adult groups but he admitted that addressing his first NHL group is a little different. It strikes a little closer to home given that most of the players in attendance were about the same age he was at the time of the accident.

Was he nervous before rolling into the Predator locker room?

"Absolutely. The nerves are always there. You want to make a good impact, you want them to go away with a good message right?" Straschnitzki said. "To deliver that the right way is something that I'm very keen on doing. So obviously the nerves come in. It's just like playing a hockey game you get nervous but the more you do it the more comfortable you get. You prepare better and essentially expand and get better at your craft."

There is also something cathartic about the process for Straschnitzki even though this part of the journey means reliving something unimaginable over and over again and not just reliving it but sharing it, speaking it out loud.

"I think it's essential," he said. "It's part of the rehab process and healing in a sense. The more I tell it the more I feel comfortable accepting what happened. It's sort of, I wouldn't say it's a grieving process, however it is a healing process. It takes time but the more I do it again the more I can learn to accept it."

After Straschnitzki finished his presentation there was quiet, then applause and then the prospects lined up and one by one and shook his hand and thanked him personally. Some stopped a little longer to ask if he knew so and so from earlier hockey days.

In spite of all that has transpired the game remains a bridge, a bond.

Development coach Sebastien Bordeleau saw a clip about Straschnitzki's story some months back and thought immediately that he needed to come to development camp and that the Predators' prospects needed to hear from him.

It was, it turned out, a perfect fit.

Over the next couple of days Straschnitzki and his traveling companions were guests of the Predators, using the team's workout facilities and taking part in other team events.

It was natural and comfortable.

As for an impact, well, it seems to have been an indelible one.

Straschnitzki started his presentation with a quote about closed doors and how the path to moving forward isn't to spend too much time contemplating the door that closes but rather the next one that invariably opens.

In a conversation the next day, netminder Ethan Haider referenced it in discussing his own challenges having been injured early in the team's 2021 development camp and then going through some uneven times during the 2021-22 season at Clarkson University.

"It was tough because you want to be out there with the guys and learning and being with the coaches but at the same I was able to do some stuff behind the scenes with (goalie coach Ben Vanderklok) and (goaltending development coach Dave Rook) which was really cool so kind of get some experiences there that maybe I wouldn't have gotten to see if I was still healthy," Haider said. "Kind of what we talked about yesterday, when one door closes another one opens."

And isn't that the point of all this?

The crystalizing of how to challenge yourself not to shrink from adversity. How to meet the challenge of taking something horrible and transforming it into something positive, perhaps even life-changing.

The idea of putting things in perspective.

This feature written by Special Guest Contributor Scott Burnside. Photo courtesy of Ryan Straschnitzki.

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