Kindel’s teammates were all glad that he was around the rink today, with Sidney Crosby saying it gave them a lift.
“It’s a scary situation that we went through, and at the end of the day, we’re just happy that Kindy is all right, he’s back with us, and he’ll be an important part on this team moving forward really soon here, I think,” Erik Karlsson said.
It’s one of those situations that puts everything in perspective, a reminder there’s more at stake than just wins and losses, and that the human side is always most important.
“It’s family. These are people that we spend a lot of time with, that we go through a lot with, and you just want to see the best for everyone. And a situation like that, it puts things in perspective pretty quickly,” Crosby said.
It also made everyone who involved gain a deep appreciation for how people are trained to handle crises.
In this instance, that includes the medical staff; the Air Canada staff comprised of Captain Sumit Lohchab, FO Sean Gallant, Flight Attendants Gilles Bourque and Linda Kong, Sub Flight Attendant Hannah Park, and Mechanic Michael Doyle, who handled everything with such professionalism; Head Coach Dan Muse, who provided constant updates and continually checked in on everybody; and Director of Team Services Jason Seidling, who had to arrange logistics for an unexpected situation quite literally on the fly.
“Just the calm and way that they can handle and restore order very quickly is deeply appreciated,” Dubas said.
The traveling party didn’t land in Pittsburgh until around 8 PM on Tuesday night after boarding the plane before 11 AM, so the organization made Wednesday a ‘get what you need day’ from both a physical and mental standpoint after the previous day’s events.
“It was important for us to just provide the resources that players needed to make sure that they were in a good spot, because whether you like it or not, the show goes on tonight,” Dubas said. “So, we have to gear up and get ready for that. That’s number one, we take care of our people, and number two, put them in a good place to perform.”
The players who spoke during media availability all said the mood around the team is good right now, considering what happened.
“Having something happen like that put things in perspective pretty quickly,” Crosby said. “But I think just knowing we got a chance here to bounce back at home and put that trip behind us, we just got to look at it as an opportunity to get back on track.”