UCalgary sport scientist key to Colorado Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog’s NHL comeback

The first time Colorado Avalanche star Gabe Landeskog limped through the door of the Integrative Neuromuscular Sport Performance Lab (INSPL), tucked away in the University of Calgary’s iconic Olympic Oval, he did so with both a ravaged knee, which threatened to end his hockey career, and an uneasy mind. 

It was spring 2024 and the youngest team captain in NHL history was fiercely determined to return to the game for the first time since June 2022, when he led the Avalanche to a Stanley Cup win. But Landeskog also felt a heaviness, painfully aware that the odds were against him. 

Four years prior, a freak accident on the ice saw him take a tendon-slashing skate blade to his right knee. Clearly, he recovered, given that Stanley Cup victory, but, by 2023, cumulative factors stemming from the injury and the relentless grind of the game had taken their toll, keeping Landeskog sidelined for two seasons. 

After months of failed rehab, he underwent major surgery, a cartilage replacement in the knee. If he was to salvage his career, this would be his only hope. But there was no guarantee he would recover sufficiently to make his way back to the NHL.  

That’s what brought him to leading-edge sport-scientist and strength-and-conditioning coach Dr. Matthew Jordan, an assistant professor in UCalgary’s Faculty of Kinesiology and INSPL’s lead researcher of muscle strength and power. 

“When Gabe came to us, he didn’t know if he would ever make it back. Very few athletes who suffer injuries this devastating can return to the elite performance capacity they once achieved,”  says Jordan, BKin'99, MSc'03, PhD'17.

To be sure, a year after his surgery, Landeskog’s skating abilities remained severely limited. 

“He could barely skate in a circle without paying for it,” Jordan recalls. “The knee was badly deconditioned, and there was a great deal of sensitivity and pain. He would skate and then his knee would blow up. He was stuck.” 

Despite an intensive rehabilitation program, Landeskog was not returning to form. 

“It involved too much guesswork,” says Jordan. “Was he doing too much on the ice too soon? Was he overcompensating for areas of weakness? Imagine throwing a dart at a dartboard while blindfolded. There was no visibility as to how he was adapting.” 

The ups and downs of recovery

As seen in the documentary A Clean Sheet: Gabe Landeskog, which aired last Spring on Prime Video, the rehabilitation journey would be extreme, with many ups and downs which saw the hockey great visiting UCalgary frequently throughout the year.  

“I don’t think I fully understood how hard it was going to be,” says Landeskog. “Not just physically demanding, but also mentally... When so much of your identity, so much of your world is based around your physical abilities and being a professional athlete, and then that’s taken away ... your mind goes to a lot of dark places.”

Landeskog kept his fears at bay and resolved to do everything in his power to return to the game. 

“I surrounded myself with the best team of specialists and Matt was a huge part of that,” he says. “He’s one of the top experts in his field and incredibly dedicated. He was stubborn in the greatest way in that he refused to give up until he found solutions. I gravitated to that.” 

Cutting-edge sensors provided data for setting goals

Technology that Jordan co-developed played a key role in Landeskog’s rehab. Namely, Plantiga sensors, microchips that were placed in the sole of his ice skates and shoes. Plantiga is a Vancouver-based company that develops the technology, and Jordan is its scientific advisor. 

These sensors allowed Jordan to monitor the biomechanics of Landeskog’s every move down to the most minute detail, wherever he was located. For this, Jordan was in frequent contact with Marcin Goszczynski, BSc'09, a strength coach who was working with Landeskog. 

Says Jordan: “Gabe could be home in Denver, getting up in the morning to walk his dog, and I could analyze his movement patterns and have full visibility of his biomechanics and load-bearing abilities at that moment.” 

Jordan and Goszczynski would examine the data provided by the Plantiga sensors and constantly make calculated micro-adjustments to the athlete’s daily goals, creating an adaptable road map to his recovery. 

“There was no guesswork,” Jordan says. “Every day was dialled in. We would take him right to his threshold, where, if we did one more hour his knee would be over its limit, and then we would have him pause, rest, recover, regenerate.” 

This shift in gears might mean hot and cold treatments, exercises in the pool, stretching, and physiotherapy, escalating to lighter workouts. “Then, when he was back at his baseline, boom, let’s optimize this, push him again, take him right to the edge,” says Jordan. “Gradually, his capacity was growing. We were moving the needle.” 

Return to the ice

Jordan’s innovative approach was a success. Last April, Landeskog flew him to Denver’s Ball Arena where the sport-scientist was joined in a VIP suite by other key players in Landeskog’s comeback, including the surgeon. 

Jordan was filled with emotion as he watched Landeskog launch himself across the ice for the Stanley Cup playoff game against the Dallas Stars. It was No. 92’s first appearance in an Avalanche game in nearly three years and the hometown crowd erupted with cheers: “Landy! Landy!” 

His children held up a homemade sign which read: “So proud of you daddy!” and his wife wiped away tears as he flipped them a puck over the glass. 

Even though the Avalanche lost that evening, praise for 92’s strong showing seemed unanimous. Three nights later, in Game 4 of the series, Landeskog scored his first goal in 1,041 days, leading his team to a 4-0 win. Even though the Avalanche ultimately lost the series, Landeskog’s return had been nothing less than triumphant. 

Looking ahead

As the 2025-26 season officially kicks off on Oct. 7 with the Colorado Avalanche taking on the Los Angeles Kings, Landeskog will remain in contact with Jordan. 

“We’ll continue to monitor things because there’s going to be a whole lot of demand on my knee again,” he says. “And Matt’s a big part of why I’m even suiting up this season.”   

The admiration is mutual. Having watched this athlete literally claw his way back to the game, Jordan feels “incredibly proud of what Gabe has accomplished. 

 “What I love about my research are moments like this when my work actually helps somebody. I feel so thankful that my lab team was able to help Gabe achieve his dream.”