Staff photo / Brian Yauger Youngstown Phantoms defenseman Jack Willson skates during a game at Covelli Centre in Youngstown.

For Youngstown Phantoms defenseman Jack Willson, the last year hasn’t been easy. A lower-body injury sustained last year kept the blueliner sidelined for the first half of the season, and staying away from the game wasn’t easy to do.

While staying active around the team as much as he could without derailing his recovery process, Willson eagerly awaited the green light to return to the ice.

As the days ticked by until he could suit up again, that’s mostly what Willson thought about. As a player, there’s only so much hockey to watch without wanting to be back out there again.

“I was home, just waiting,” Willson said. “I didn’t have much to do at home, I was just waiting around, waiting to play. It was kind of harder for me, because that’s all that was on my mind. Just knowing you’re going to play, or when you get the date, it obviously goes by pretty slow because you can’t wait for it. You’re just excited, and you prepare as best as you can to be ready for that time.”

Right before the new year began, Willson got his green light.

While not where he wanted to be yet – he admittedly had some rust in his first game back, which led to a goal against – Willson was just happy to be back on this ice.

So far, Willson, known in the locker room as “Junior,” has played in nine games since returning to the Phantoms. His ninth this season was one to remember.

Saturday’s contest against Team USA served as Willson’s “coming out” party, with the Michigan-bound defenseman netting two goals and nearly had a third on the empty net late in the 4-2 victory.

“I feel like the rust is all shaken off,” Willson said of his performance since returning to the ice. “That’s about the time it’s taken. I’d say about eight games for me to get back into the swing of things, and from now on, I’m just looking to go up.”

When working a player back from an injury, especially a lower-body injury at a position that depends so much on mobility, the coaches couldn’t drop him into the lineup and expect him to be just like before. There’s a delicate balance.

While Willson is a reliable minute-muncher on the backend, Phantoms coach Ryan Ward knew that taking things slow was the better approach.

He would have wanted to get in and play 20 minutes right away,” Ward said. “He played the first game against Muskegon, and then I gave him the next night off. I don’t think he liked that very much, but from a coach’s standpoint, you just want to make sure that he is not overloaded. When you sit out that long (and come back), you’re overcome with a ton of emotion. You want to make sure that for those players, you’re protecting them and putting them in the best position to succeed. And I feel like, now, there’s no question (Willson) is ready to be in the lineup every night, and contribute.”

Bringing Willson back into the fold is a large boost for a team that’s been playing without a full deck for much of the year.

“It’s great. Obviously coming off major surgery to your hip, it’s something that takes some time and you have to be patient with it, but he’s worked really hard to get stronger and get back to where he is,” Ward said. “I think his timing is back. (Willson was on the 2022-23 roster and) played a huge role on that team, and we certainly expect him to play a massive role down the stretch here as we gear up for another (championship) run.”

Willson is one of two players remaining from the team’s Clark Cup-winning roster two seasons ago. He along with fellow defenseman Conner de Haro will be crucial as games get tougher down the road.

“You can’t really replace experience, especially when you get in the nitty gritty games and you get down the stretch,” Ward said. “He’s been in high-pressure situations and he’s been eliminated from games and things like that. It obviously means a ton. He’s someone that us coaches can lean on and the players who haven’t been there can lean on.”

That experience has made Willson a leader in the locker room, even when he was still recovering.

“The guys are able to look at me to see what to do, for information and advice. Just how we can do things,” Willson said. “I think (that experience is) a very valuable and important thing to have on the team, and just happens to be me. I’ll try to lead my teammates the best I can with the chance to go and win a Clark Cup.”

This is expected to be Willson’s last season before making the jump to college. Missing as much time as he did, Willson is looking to make this season last as long as possible before heading off to Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“We want to make it to the end, we want to be the winners, and I totally have faith in this group,” Willson said. “We have a great defensive core, we’ve got great goalies, we’ve got great forwards. We might need to work on a few things like everyone else, but we for sure have the team to do it.”