'I Wouldn't Wish This On Anyone': Devils' Nathan Bastian Opens Up About Broken Jaw

Frustrating.

That would best describe the life of New Jersey Devils forward Nathan Bastian since he broke his jaw in early November.

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In an exclusive interview with The Hockey News, the 27-year-old provided a glimpse into what was happening behind the scenes as he has been recovering from his injury.

"I would say probably the first two and a half weeks were really crappy because my mouth was wired," he said.

The winger consumed nothing but smoothies every single day for two weeks.

"Once I got the wires off, I was reintroduced to a few things," he said, "but you get sick of it so quick. There were a lot of nights you think, 'I'm not even going to have anything.'"

Nutrition and proper food intake are key parts of being an athlete. Hockey players must consume a lot of calories to maintain their energy and high-performance levels, and despite the broken jaw and limited diet, Bastian continued his workouts.

"On days that I would do a workout and a skate, I could feel that I was not getting enough in my system to do all that," he said. "It was handled strategically because most days I wouldn't do both; it was a little too much for me."

On Friday, Bastian said he still should not be chewing and is still unable to eat a steak, but he has been able to add rice, mashed potatoes, and similar foods back into his diet.

No injury is easy, but in speaking with the Ontario native, this one seems worse than others a hockey player can experience in their career.

"I wouldn't wish this on anyone," he said. "Even if you hurt your knee or something, you can go into the city or get dinner. (With this) you can't do that.

"Missing the time and not being able to eat, it was tough to make the most out of most days," he continued. "You are already frustrated enough, and then you can't eat. I know everyone likes eating, but I love eating."

Bastian watched sports and, as expected, cheered on his teammates from home. Sometimes, when the Devils weren't playing, the hockey player simply called it an early night at 8:30 p.m.

"You are starving, so you're thinking, okay, should I have another smoothie, or should I just go to bed?"

You don't need to be around him long to see how genuinely happy he is to be back with his team. Bastian returned to the ice on Dec. 10, and knowing that his diet is still not back to normal, it was impressive to see how energized he was in those first few shifts against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Experiencing everything he has between having his mouth wired, living off smoothies, being away from his teammates, and all of the frustrations accompanying that, would he make the same decision in Calgary to defend his teammate and confront Ryan Lomberg?

"Yeah, I would do it again."

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