Blackhawks' Johnson after neck surgery: 'I still feel like I'm a great player'

As Kendall Coyne-Schofield was wrapping up her news conference to celebrate International Women's Day at the United Center on Sunday, cheers erupted from the adjoining room.

Coyne-Schofield stopped mid-sentence, laughed and said: "Congratulations to whoever!"

Turns out the rousing applause was for Blackhawks forward Tyler Johnson, who was receiving his 2021 Stanley Cup ring from the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"Aww," said Coyne-Schofield said when told what the ruckus was about. "That's awesome."

Also awesome has been Johnson's incredible recovery from Artificial Disc Replacement surgery in his neck. The procedure, which was performed on December 3, cost Johnson 46 games this season, but going this route - as opposed to spinal fusion - shaved months off the recovery time.

Still, it was not an easy decision as a couple of doctors Johnson spoke with were not on board with ADR, which involves removing the painful disc and replacing it with a prosthetic implant.

Vegas Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel underwent the same operation in November and reached out to Johnson on a few occasions.

"Probably two or three phone calls (with Eichel) that lasted a little while," Johnson said before the Hawks hosted the Lightning. "He was unbelievable in the whole process. ... It was kind of nice having somebody else that was going through it at the same time as me to be able to lean on and say, 'Hey, did you have this? Or did you feel this?'"

Johnson had been having issues with his neck for about four years. Then he took a hit this preseason that exacerbated the problem. Then came a life-altering blow against Carolina on October 30 when Johnson was checked into the boards by Vincent Trocheck.

After dealing with "numbness and tingling" in his arm for a month Johnson finally decided surgery was the only option.

"(The doctor) did an unbelievable job," said Johnson, who played in his third game since returning. "When he went in, he said it was way worse than they even thought it was. It was not going to be able to come back on its own. We had to do something."

Johnson was unable to sleep on his stomach before the surgery; now he wakes up pain free.

"They say that normally (after the surgery) you feel how you were before," Johnson said. "But to be honest, I feel better. I haven't been able to sleep on my stomach in probably four years because of this, and now I'm able to do that, so that's pretty cool.

"It's honestly crazy. I don't wake up in the morning with a stiff neck anymore so I'm pretty happy about it."

Johnson was acquired by then-general manager Stan Bowman last off-season in exchange for the rights to Brent Seabrook's contract. He was a huge part of Tampa Bay's rise to dominance, scoring 161 goals and dishing out 200 assists in 589 games from 2012-21.

"The recipe of winning, Johnny knows what it is," said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. "That's why he's been on teams his whole career that have won or come darn close to winning.

"Being a negative (guy) on the bench is not the way to do it. He's not like that and that's why he's still around."

And unless Johnson's traded, he'll be in Chicago for two more seasons. Those campaigns figure to be tough ones as the Hawks undergo a rebuild, but Johnson is willing to do whatever it takes to move the franchise forward so that, one day, they can again be a pain in the neck for their opponents.

"We have a pretty young team," Johnson said. "We have some guys that are still kinda learning the ropes. I hope I can be there to help them along.

"I also want to contribute. I still feel like I'm a great player, so I want to help in that regard as well."