A year and a half ago, former Capital Wojtek Wolski thought his career was over after breaking his neck during a KHL game. At the time, Wolski even believed he was never going to walk again.
On Thursday at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Wolski scored twice for Team Canada.
His first goal was a beautiful end-to-end effort, beating out two Swiss players on his own.
What a beautiful goal for Wojtek Wolski, who has his second career goal in men's hockey for Canada. Chases Leonardo Genoni with this beautiful move/shot combo. #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/Bt5DbVHJjp
— Steven Ellis (@StevenEllisNHL) February 15, 2018
He later added an empty netter. Wolski’s pair of goals during Canada’s opening game helped defeat the Swiss 5-1.
Wolski’s scary headfirst crash occurred in October 2016. After undergoing multiple surgeries, Wolski began playing hockey again in June and took the ice for a regular season game in September 2017.
“I wouldn’t throw around the term ‘miracle’ lightly, but it’s a miracle that he wasn’t hurt much worse than he was,” Wolski’s trainer Matt Nichol said to the Associated Press. “I think a real good positive outcome would’ve just been the fact that he’s able to get around again, do activities in his daily living and hang out with his kids and stuff like that. The fact that he could play hockey at all again was great. The fact that he could play at a professional level was incredible. And then the fact that he’s there at the Olympics, it’s mind-blowing.”
Wolski was born in Poland, but holds dual citizenship with Canada. When the NHL decided not to send athletes to the Olympics, Canada began assembling a roster with several former NHL players and Wolski was included in that list.
“Leading up to this tournament, I started feeling more like myself again,” Wolski said to AP, “and just hoping that it continues to get better and that I’m peaking at the right moment.”
“Exactly one year ago today I laid in a hospital bed after having surgery to fix a broken neck,” Wolski said after being named to Team Canada in January. “Today I am so proud and excited to have been named to Canada’s Olympic Hockey Team. I look at the picture of me in the hospital and can’t help but cry. Mostly tears of happiness, but I am filled with so many emotions about what I have overcome. I could never have imagined that I would be so lucky one year later. I want to take this moment to thank everyone for all the amazing support along the way.”
Wolski is having the time of a lifetime as he takes in every aspect of being at the Olympic Winter Games.
Headline Image: @wojtekwolski
