Asked about his journey over these last nine months recovering from double shoulder surgery, Beau Akey pauses and reflects for a few seconds before answering.
“It’s been a long, long offseason of skating and working out,” said the Barrie Colts defenceman.
The last time Akey took to the ice with his Barrie teammates was on Nov. 10, 2023, when he injured his left shoulder in a road game against the Mississauga Steelheads.
After a long, gruelling rehab process, his next game is finally just around the corner. While Akey has yet to be cleared for full contact, the Edmonton Oilers prospect should to be ready for the early part of this season.
“I’m definitely looking forward to it,” said the 19-year-old, ahead of on-ice training camp workouts set to begin at 9 a.m. on Tuesday morning at Sadlon Arena. “It’s probably the most excited I’ve been in my entire life. It’s been a long time and as a hockey player you usually don’t spend that much time away from the game.
Usually, you’re spending a couple of months with the summer and you’re, ‘I really wish the summer was longer.’ It’s super exciting for myself.”
Akey is far from the only one excited about his return. Having one of the top defencemen in the Canadian Hockey League return to your lineup will certainly bring a smile to a coach’s face.
“I think that’s excited a lot of us,” said Colts general manager and head coach Marty Williamson. “When you know that we got most of those guys back (from last year) and then we’re adding a Beau Akey to that group, that’s pretty exciting. Everybody is a year older. We missed Beau a ton last year for everything. For the power play and how he improved our forwards by his puck moving.
“It was a tough year on him, but it was tough on us missing him. I’m excited for how hard he’s worked this summer and I know he’s going to be ready September, mid-October for contact and I know he’s chomping at the bit to get the season going and rebound from what was disappointing year with the shoulder surgery.”
Akey says he’s had a bad right shoulder for as long as he can remember, but it was his left shoulder that knocked him out of the Barrie lineup early last season.
With a torn labrum in both shoulders, it was determined the best course was for Akey to miss the remainder of the season and have both shoulders surgically repaired.
He would be able to have his shoulder issues put behind him and be fully healthy moving forward.
“It was kind of a long process and a hard pill to swallow, but definitely the right decision,” said Akey, who was Barrie’s 19th overall selection in the 2021 OHL Priority Selection.
He had surgery on one shoulder in December and then the other in February.
“I had difficulty pouring a bowl of cereal after the first surgery,” said the six-foot, 186-pound native of Waterloo.
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Rehab started slowly a couple of weeks after the first surgery. Strength work followed and just before his teammates went home after the season he was even able to get back on the ice.
Akey worked on his strength conditioning at TNT Training in Waterloo under founder Tyler Taylor, while MSK Centre’s Kyle Ferrigan guided him through the physio part of his rehab.
Akey had “the best two guys beside me to help me through this.”
Getting back to the conditioning he had has not been easy.
“It’s definitely a struggle and even now realizing how much your body was in shape before and how much you have to gain back longevity strength,” Akey said. “The muscle, cardio piece of it has definitely been a part of it.
“We’re feeling pretty close to 100 percent now, so it’s only a matter of time before I’m back.”
Just as tough for Akey was not being out there with his teammates. He watched a young, rebuilding club come together after the OHL trade deadline and come close to knocking off the Oshawa Generals, top seed in the Eastern Conference, in the opening round of the playoffs.
“Obviously it hurts me not being able to be out there,” he said. “I would have loved to help that team being able to pull off a big upset.”
Akey is anxious to get back out there and help his teammates. He is also looking forward to getting the opportunity to prove to Hockey Canada that he belongs on Canada’s roster for the upcoming world junior hockey tournament.
“Losing that development year hurts, but I’m really looking to take that big step into my final development year hopefully and make a big push for the world junior team,” he said. “I’m just trying to be my best self so come the end of the season, when I’m stepping into pro, I can be myself.”
Williamson, for one, believes his young blueliner will do all he can to make the national team.
“He wants to make that world junior team, it’s one of his goals,” Williamson said. “Obviously, he couldn’t go to the camp, so he’s going to find the way to make that team and that’s by having a quick start, a real good season and proving that he deserves to be one of the six or seven defencemen that make that team.
“I wouldn’t put anything past Beau. I know how driven he is.”
The timing of injuries is never good for a top athlete. For Akey, he felt like his game was truly arriving in junior. That he was ready to have a real impact in helping his team win.
“It definitely hurts, but I watched the game a lot, so I feel I can still learn that side of the game,” said Akey. “I’m just hoping I remember what do on the ice.”
He’s thankful for all who have helped him on this long journey of recovery. For the Colts coaching staff and trainers who helped give him the support they needed and to his teammates who made it a lot easier being around the rink when he couldn’t play.
The Oilers have also kept a close watch over their young prospect and making sure he kept his hopes up throughout this lengthy process.
“Really making me focus on the long term and that’s where my mental (side) went to,” said Akey. “Seeing that it’s a good thing, that sometimes you got to step away from the game and really focus on your health. Edmonton was constantly reminding me of that.”
Looking back, as tough as this has all been, Akey believes he’s learned a lot through this experience.
“It definitely taught me a lot of patience,” he said. “You got be patient for the good things to come in life. There’s always darkness before the dawn, so I’m just looking for that dawn now and it’s coming soon.”
ICE CHIPS: The Colts bolstered their forward group Monday with the acquisition of centre Brad Gardiner from the Ottawa 67’s in return for two second-round picks (Saginaw’s 2026, 2028), a third (2027) and a fourth (Kitchener 2025). The 19-year-old 2023 third-round pick (79th overall) of the Dallas Stars, whose father Bruce played with Jr. B Colts and four seasons with the Ottawa Senators, had 16 goals and 49 points in 67 games. . . Stars prospect Emil Hemming will be on the ice Tuesday after landing in Toronto last night.
