WARREN, Mich. - Six knee surgeries later, Jan Hudec figures he's finally perfected the art of the comeback.
The 28-year-old ski racer from Calgary embarks on this Olympic season following eight gruelling months of rehabilitation after yet another serious knee injury.
"I'm a little bit of an old hand now I suppose," Hudec said laughing. "But so far so good."
Hudec crashed at the world championships last February in Val d'Isere, France, tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee -- a massive blow to any skier just a year out from the Vancouver Olympics, but packing an even bigger wallop for Hudec, who was on the mend from a torn ACL in his right knee a year earlier.
He had only been back competing for three weeks.
But Hudec, a former world championship silver medallist, said this last surgery has been his most successful so far.
He hopes to open the season at the World Cup at Lake Louise, Alta., Nov. 28-29, and has his sights set on a medal in Vancouver in what would be a remarkable Olympic comeback.
"So far, awesome," Hudec said on his most recent comeback. "I've had six knee surgeries and so far, it's been like the best return to snow I've ever had. I'm really confident going into this season, and my body feels good.
"For me it was one of the best surgeries I've ever had --if there is such a thing. With the support of our team doctors, and physios and training staff, every card that we've had we've played it, and a couple of secret cards as well."
Under the guidance of physiotherapist Kent Kobelka and strength trainer Matt Price, Hudec was back on the stationary bike four days after surgery, participated in a team training camp in Portillo, Chile, and recently returned home from training in France.
He and teammate Tyler Nella of Toronto spent Saturday doing aerodynamics testing at the General Motors wind tunnel.
The downhill specialist, who had five surgeries on his right knee before blowing out the left, said he never let the possibility of missing the Vancouver Olympics enter his mind.
"For a split second when I actually crashed in February, all of the thoughts flooded my head, a little bit of doubt, like I can't believe I just hurt myself 10 months out of the Olympics or whatever it was," said Hudec, who was in the lead at Val d'Isere when he slid off-course and crashed into the netting.
"I was nervous for a couple of seconds but as soon as I got out of the hospital I knew I was ready to go again."
Lake Louise provides the perfect venue for Hudec's return to racing. He captured gold on his hometown hill in 2007 in front of family and friends, making history as the first Canadian to win the men's downhill at Lake Louise.
"The confidence level, that plays a huge role," Hudec said.
"Coming back from injury is one thing but I think the toughest part of coming back is to get the confidence back up. It doesn't matter how fit you are, how good you think you are, it always plays a bit of a role in the back of your head when you really have to push 100 per cent, and I think to start at a place like that would really benefit me."
Hudec will attend an Alpine Canada news conference Monday in Toronto when Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk makes a fundraising announcement on behalf of Canada's alpine ski teams.
"Eugene Melnyk is a big supporter of ski racing, he's familiar with the guys, every spring we do a hockey camp out east to do conditioning and he's sort of caught on to that as well," Hudec said.
"It's awesome to have guys like Mr. Melnyk support another sport in Canada. Hopefully he'll get some more exposure and bring some more attention from the corporate world to help get some guys on the podium in Vancouver."
