Article content continued

Ference has played a hard-pounding 907 NHL league games and another 120 in the playoffs, including a Cup ring in Boston in 2011. As the 208th player taken in the 1997 draft after playing for the Portland Winterhawks, the defenceman long ago exceeded everybody’s expectations, and his body looked worn out last season.

“When you play as long as he does, it’s not uncommon to have a labrum injury and players play on it and play on it and what happens is you get a bone spur that keeps ripping through the cartilage,” said Overhardt. “He played and let the cartilage get ripped and ripped. It’s almost chronic. If it was a simple labrum tear it would be much easier and quicker to repair.”

Ference likely doesn’t want to be an extra part again this season — he played over 21 minutes a night in his first Oilers season, then 18 in Year 2 but only averaged 13 minutes this past season — but the Oilers and the player will cross that bridge months down the road. He could decide to retire rather than sit in the press box.

He was the team captain his first two seasons but he gave up the C this season and wore an A, when he played. They had Oscar Klefbom, Andrej Sekera, Justin Schultz, Mark Fayne, Darnell Nurse, Brandon Davidson and Eric Gryba ahead of him, at least for the firstfew months until Klefbom got hurt and missed the last four months.

Ference has lots going on away from the rink. He got his certificate in corporate sustainability from the Harvard Extension School three weeks ago and is a partner with Fifth Seed Ventures, a company that provides seed money for investors in environmentally-conscious start-ups. He’s been very involved in Full Cycle Bioplastics that converts organic waste into biodegradable plastics.