The love of his family combined with the support of his team have put Elijiah Barriga back on track for success.
The perfect ending to a heartbreaking story of injury that threatened to wreck his Belfast Giants career less than a month after moving to Northern Ireland hasn’t quite been written yet. The 28-year-old is, however, on his way to penning a wonderful final chapter to that particular tale.
Barriga has emerged from the dark days of surgery and rehab following a cruciate ligament tear in September 2023 to shine once again.
He hit nine goals in as many games at the start of this season, his tally of 12 goals places him in the top 10 in the scoring charts and only six players across the Elite League have more than the 27 points he has recorded in his comeback campaign.
“I’m feeling good. I’m just happy to play again,” said Barriga, who suffered the injury in a Champions League game against Italian side Bolzano just a matter of weeks after joining the Giants from the Dundee Stars.
“It’s not easy getting back, but we’re here now.
“I was super-excited to get over here and start playing with this team. Things happen in this game, it’s part of the game and it was unfortunate, but I worked really hard to get back and I am just happy to be playing again.”
Working his way back to full fitness under the bright sunshine of his native West Covina, California – less than 20 miles away from Los Angeles – sounds much more preferable to a winter in Belfast without playing his sport.
There was much more behind Barriga heading home to work his way back to fitness than just the weather, though.
“I feel like it was more mental than physical. A lot of things run through your head at that time,” said Barriga.
“I was able to go home and focus on myself and get the rehab I needed to come back and play.
“I was going in four or five times a week, connecting with guys who I know back home that I have trained over the summer with.
“They got me healthy and prepared me to come back and play.
“I think that was the best for me. I was away from my family, but being back home and being with my family, being surrounded by the people that love you and support you and have got your back all the time, I think that was good for me.
“There was communication (with the Giants) probably twice a week, we stayed connected and kept up on my progress and seen how I was doing.
“The main goal was to come back and be ready for training camp and be able to play and help the team win.”
With the recovery progressing at pace – even Barriga wouldn’t deem it complete yet – winning is the next step.
As the Elite League season edges towards the halfway stage, the Giants are well placed, just two points behind the Cardiff Devils with two games in hand. Adam Keefe’s team have the opportunity to close that gap entirely if they can win at home to the Sheffield Steelers on Friday night and Cardiff lose at home to Dundee.
Both the team as a whole and Barriga in particular seem to be getting stronger at just the right time.
“I guess you don’t really know what to expect (when you come back from injury). I am still working on rehabbing whenever I can. It’s not easy, right now I’m 15 or 16 months on from the injury and I would say I could be a little bit stronger,” said Barriga.
“I think at the end of the day winning is what you play for and the guys in the locker room want to win those trophies and bring them back.”