A devastating knee injury doesn't sound like much of a premise for hilarity, but when you're as disappointed and dejected as Mark Smith was late last winter, you get your laughs where you can.

So it was that Smith, a UAA defenseman coming off a season-ending knee injury, discovered the pitfalls -- actually, the pratfalls -- of post surgery.

Thankfully, both Smith and Hendry have mended, and both blueliners are back where they belong -- at their usual stations inside the plexiglass, rather than on the outside ruefully looking in.

For Smith (No. 7), a junior injured Jan. 21, the goal he scored on opening night in a 6-3 win over Rensselaer assured him he was back from the rigorous road of rehabbing.

As difficult as Smith's recovery was physically, his emotional recovery was harder. He was 20 games into what he calls "a terrible season'' -- zero points after scoring 21 as a freshman -- when the collision on Sullivan Arena ice left him injured and distraught.

He rebounded by working hard on his rehab, training over the summer with his brother, Kenton, a defenseman with the ECHL's Charlotte Checkers, and continuing to strengthen his knee at UAA this fall.

Smith's still not all the way back. He can't make all the quick starts and stops he did before the injury. Still, he's come a long way from his first time back on ice, at UAA about two months ago. Then he couldn't even perform a rudimentary cross-over move while skating backwards.

While Smith still has gains to make, he obviously can contribute to the Seawolves, who used him last weekend on regular shifts, to kill penalties and work the point on the power play.

Hendry (No. 6), who suffered his injury a year ago tonight against UAA, returned to help the Nanooks win in overtime and tie at then-No. 1-ranked Minnesota last weekend.

The junior that UAF coach Tavis MacMillan calls his "security blanket'' is the Nanooks' best player. Hendry is a tremendous skater, plays both sides of the puck and plays in all situations. He's not the type of defenseman who will often bring the average fan to the edge of his seat. But he defends 1-on-1s well and makes the hard, accurate first pass out of his zone that leaves coaches gushing.

Like Smith, Hendry said the hardest thing about his injury was not being able to contribute to a team that went 17-16-4 and finished third in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association's Super 6 tournament.

Like Smith, Hendry worked hard on rehab, and MacMillan said he didn't see any injury-related deficiencies in his defenseman's play against the Gophers. Hendry was just ecstatic to be playing again.

ERIK HILL/Anchorage Daily News UAA junior defenseman Mark Smith (No. 7), who is coming back from reconstructive surgery on his right knee, drives Vermont's Torrey Mitchell off the puck last week. MARC LESTER / Anchorage Daily News UAF junior defenseman Jordan Hendry, shown here carrying the puck against UAA last season, is returning from a major right knee injury. Tonight's game against UAA at Sullivan Arena marks the one-year anniversary of his injury.

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