For the former Bonnyville Pontiacs defenceman and St. Paul native Jordon Krankowsky, the most grueling day of his life happened two weeks ago when he was told he would not be playing in game five of his team's first round playoff series against Sherwood Park.
"It was probably the toughest three or four days of my life. It was just the timing when I got hurt and me not being able to go back in," Krankowsky said. "Just having to watch and not being able to contribute or be part of it."
The Pontiacs lost the fifth and deciding game 5 - 1 to bring its season to an abrupt end, which was also the final season for Krankowsky, a fourth year D man who's been with Bonnyville since the 08/09 season. He suffered a shoulder injury in game four and was not cleared to play.
"It just came down to whether I could shoot and actually be useful or not," he explained after visiting the team's doctor before the series' final game. "I tried practicing before the game and I wasn't able to shoot so I couldn't play."
Despite not being able to help his teammates on the ice, Krankowsky continued to pursue the leadership role that was cast upon him at the beginning of the season by voicing his support to the other players.
"Being around for as long as I was, I was one of the core guys for that leadership aspect of it," he said. "It's a lot of pressure and there are a lot of expectations, but you wouldn't want it any other way or else it's no fun."
Being that this was his final year in Junior hockey due to his age, the 5'11 defenceman believes it was his best season yet where he started contributing in the offensive zone "rather than just being that go-to defensive guy."
"Overall, the season was pretty good. It had its ups and downs just like any season does," he said. "I think this was my best season of the four years. I was more used to how the game works and learning what to do and what not to do."
Focusing on perfecting his position in practices, showing leadership towards the younger players and working as hard as he could on the ice were things the St. Paul product did to keep his mind off the fact he would not be wearing the black, yellow and white jersey next year.
"I really tried not to think about it as much as I could," he said. "It was always in the back of my mind, but I tried my best not to talk about it. After I got hurt that was pretty much the only thing on my mind. It took a couple days to settle in and when it did it hit me pretty hard.
"There were times when I wasn't having a good game and I just thought I should pull my socks up because this is my last year," he remembered saying to himself. "It's my last chance to do something so I should try and make a difference. Otherwise I really tried not to let it creep in or else it would probably cause you to make more mistakes."
Krankowsky finished the year with seven goals and 19 helpers. He played in 58 games, which was third most of all the players on the team and said the time with the Pontiacs under head coach Chad Mercier and assistant coach Ryan Pollock will be moments he'll remember for the rest of his life.
"I've never heard of other coaches doing the things that Merc and Polly do for us," he explained. "They're the type of guys that go phoning around to colleges and they do a lot of behind the scenes that nobody has any clue about. They do a lot of extra and they really care."
He also said he'll remember some of the more humorous situations Mercier put the team in when performances were sub par such as kicking the team out of the dressing room for a week, taking all their sticks away and making them use wooden sticks or making them run in a field outside the arena wearing all their equipment.
For now, Krankowsky is content to stay off the ice and let his shoulder completely heal for next season. He said he would like to attend NAIT in the fall for business and has been in talks with the college hockey coach about joining the team, although nothing has been confirmed yet.
"Right now I can barely even move still," he said. "There's going to be a day where I wake up in the morning and the game has taken a toll on my body and it's about that time to shut her down, but for the most part I want to keep going and see where I can get with it."
