“I knew I had it”

On paper, the plan was perfect. What this emotional burden doesn't take into account is the pain associated with having something you love taken away from you in an instant. While a return to the NHL was always within reach, the seeds of doubt were planted early in his AHL tenure, when it became clear that the level itself would test him more than expected.

“When I first went down, I was a little disappointed with myself and where I was,” he said. “It hurt me for about the first 10 games.

“Then once I got comfortable with that group, it started getting better every day and I started seeing results.”

While offense wasn't his goal, Rooney finished the 2022-23 campaign with five goals and 17 points in 51 regular-season games before adding three more assists in nine playoff games.

But it was then, when he went home for the summer, that the real change began to take place.

“Especially nowadays, if you're not advantaged in some way, somebody else is going to run in front of you,” Rooney said. “So one of the things I did was I watched a lot of videos and realized I needed to be more of a possession player. It was something I used to do well, but for one reason or another got away from it.

“First of all, I have to use my speed – for me, you'll see that when I go into the check.

“If I'm first on those pucks, instead of trying to get it back to D or try to play as fast as I can, I have to keep my body on the puck and use my size. Holding onto the puck, dragging defenders to me and then kicking it to the guys I'm playing with is what makes me successful and allows me to impact the game.”

When Rooney arrived at training camp in the fall, he looked like the player he described.

Fast.

It is tough.

And physical.

The Canton, Mass., native had an easy spot on the Flames' opening night roster, fully displaying those qualities before fate intervened.

Rooney fell awkwardly to the ice and then to the end boards during practice in the final stages of training camp. He knew something was wrong, slowly pulling himself upright and resting on his shoulder where the knife would go under before heading to the locker room.

Not only was he back in the NHL four months later (about 40 family and friends were on hand for an important hometown game), but he had a big impact in the Bruins' 4-1 Flames win, which earned him all kinds of praise. his head coach.

And none of it is accidental.

He worked for it.

He overcame a mountain of hardships, recovered himself, and faced one last, incredible obstacle on the highway back to his dream.