Jets prospect McGroarty savouring 2nd world juniors appearance with U.S. team

Rutger McGroarty was desperate to play for his country.

The Winnipeg Jets prospect also didn't want to have a tube inserted into his chest to make it happen.

McGroarty was injured after getting checked awkwardly into the boards while playing for the University of Michigan in mid-November. The winger had to be stretchered off the ice with a fractured rib and punctured lung.

His chances of suiting up for the United States a second time at the world junior hockey championship appeared grim.

"[The doctors] were saying a bunch of stuff: 'It could take two months or it could take a week ... we don't know,"' McGroarty recalled of his four days in hospital. "And then they wanted to shove a tube in my chest to heal it. I'm like, 'I'm not putting a tube in my chest, guys. I'm gonna let this heal naturally.'

"I trusted the process."

After another week of bed rest at home, that belief paid off.

"Next thing you know, they do some tests and they're like, 'Oh, the lung's healed,"' he said. "Perfect. Let's go."

After capturing bronze at the 2023 tournament in Halifax, the 19-year-old U.S. captain is back hoping for a medal upgrade in Sweden.

McGroarty and his teammates finished first in Group B at the annual under-20 showcase and will play Latvia in Tuesday's quarter-finals.

No surprise here. Rutger McGroarty captures player of the game!