After two shoulder surgeries and a hip procedure, Milan Cermak has a lot of extra hardware in his body.
“Soon, I won’t be able to walk through a metal detector at TSA at the airport,” he jokes.
Milan, 22, has played hockey for most of his life. He now plays for the Chatham University men’s hockey team, which is a sports partner of UPMC Sports Medicine.
Over the course of Milan’s hockey career, he’s suffered several injuries. Each time, UPMC Sports Medicine helped him return to the ice.
Milan says he’s “very grateful” for the care he’s received through UPMC — from orthopaedic surgeon Dharmesh Vyas, MD, to his physical therapists, athletic trainers, and beyond.
A Serious Shoulder Tear
Milan felt drawn to hockey from an early age. He ice-skated for the first time before he turned 2 years old.
Growing up east of Pittsburgh, he played in the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite hockey program. In his later teenage years, he played junior hockey for teams in Nebraska, New Jersey, and Texas.
“I really like the camaraderie of the group of guys you have in the locker room, and just being able to compete every day,” says Milan, a 6-foot-4 forward. “It just brings a lot of joy in my life doing so with a good group of guys.”
Milan suffered his first significant shoulder injury when he was 17 and playing for Penguins Elite.
After getting hit into the boards, he tried to catch himself, but his arm got caught on the boards. This caused a subluxation, or partial dislocation, of his right shoulder. In the process, he developed posterior labrum tears in both shoulders.
Milan played through the injury for two years. He treated the injury with physical therapy with Rebecca Huff, PT, DPT, and the team at UPMC Rehabilitation Institute — Cranberry Township.
“It was going really well, and I kind of got away from that, unfortunately, when I went to New Jersey to play junior hockey,” he says.
Two years after the initial injury, he was playing junior hockey in New Jersey when he got hit from behind. This time, he suffered a full labrum tear in his right shoulder.
“They said it looked like they took my labrum and put it through a paper shredder,” Milan remembers.
Milan attempted to treat the injury with physical therapy, but his junior hockey team’s doctor recommended surgery. He returned to Pittsburgh for a second opinion with Dr. Vyas, who also recommended surgery.
“He recommended, ‘Let’s just do it now, so you don’t damage it further,’” he says. ”That’s when I decided to do the surgery.”
Dr. Vyas performed the surgery in early November 2021, using eight anchors to repair the torn labrum and also repairing Milan’s shoulder capsule.
After surgery, Milan says he felt motivated to return to the ice before the end of the season. He again worked through his rehab with Rebecca and the team, going three to four days a week. He returned to his junior team in time for the spring 2022 playoffs.
Milan says he is thankful for Rebecca and team for helping him finish his rehab in time for the playoffs. He originally expected six- to eight-month recovery period, but it ended up taking only five.
“What I really enjoyed about it, besides just them making it a fun environment for me to try to get back to the level that I was at, was more so that they didn’t hold you back,” he says. “If you could graduate from rehab early and return to play, they were willing to do that as long as they felt you were up to top-notch.”
A Second Shoulder Surgery
Milan’s surgically repaired right shoulder held up well after his return to the ice. But in his 2022-23 junior hockey season in Texas, he tore the labrum in his left shoulder on another hit into the boards.
Because it was his final year of junior hockey, Milan tried to play through the injury. But it quickly became apparent that he’d need surgery again.
“The shoulder was limiting me on the ice, but I also wasn’t sleeping,” he says. “My shoulder would pop out in my sleep. I tried to do a cortisone shot, and it didn’t do anything, either.”
Milan again returned to Pittsburgh, where Dr. Vyas surgically repaired his left shoulder in February 2023. He fixed Milan’s fractured glenoid bone and used seven anchors to repair the torn labrum.
“He’s an incredible person,” Milan says of Dr. Vyas. “He also understands that you don’t want to miss time if you don’t have to, and he always weighs the options with you.
“He never talks down to you. He always makes you feel welcome and explains things to the best of his ability, so you know what he’s going to do and what the rehab is going to be like.”
Again, Milan went to Rebecca and her team for rehabilitation. They helped him return in time for his first season at Chatham in fall 2023.
A Third Injury
In October 2024, early in his sophomore season at Chatham, Milan suffered a third injury that would require surgery. He went into the boards awkwardly, which caused the labrum in his hip to tear. The injury also worsened his existing hip impingement.
Chatham is a partner school with UPMC Sports Medicine, which provides team doctors and athletic trainers. After his hip injury, Milan worked with Becca Kayda, PhD, LAT, ATC, a supervisor and athletic trainer at UPMC Sports Medicine who also serves as an athletic trainer for several Chatham sports teams, including men’s hockey.
With Becca’s help, Milan continued to play through the hip injury.
Before each practice, she helped him stretch and talked him through which drills he could and couldn’t do. She recommended rest days to their coach. Milan and Becca also worked on “prehabilitation,” a process that introduces aspects of rehabilitation before surgery.
“She’s an incredible person, and she’s great at what she does,” Milan says of Becca. “She kept not just myself but the whole team on the ice through injuries and really helped us finish the season strong.”
By early 2025, Milan’s hip injury was limiting him to the point where he needed surgery.
“I had no power and no push anymore,” he says. “With skating, if you have no power to push off, you really aren’t going anywhere.”
Dr. Vyas repaired Milan’s hip in February 2025, installing five anchors to fix the tear and shaving down excess bone in his hip to correct his impingement.
“It feels really good, so that’s a bonus,” he says.
Getting Ready to Skate Again
Since his hip surgery, Milan is working through rehabilitation with Becca. As of mid-May 2025, he estimated he was at about 75% strength in his hip. He expected he could begin skating again by the end of May and resume full-weight workouts in June.
“It’s definitely ahead of its timeline again, which is awesome,” he says.
He says Becca and Dr. Vyas both anticipate that he’ll be ready for the start of Chatham’s season in the fall.
Milan’s rehab focuses not only on recovery from the previous injury but also on preventing future injuries.
“Especially with Rebecca and Becca, they really work with us not just rehabbing it but making sure it’s stronger than ever,” he says. “I also want to shout out my trainer in Trafford, Tim Cortazzo, for all of his support.”
Milan hopes to stay injury-free in the upcoming season while helping Chatham achieve new heights in men’s hockey.
“I think a big goal for us as a program is taking the next step,” he says. “We beat the No. 2 and No. 3 teams in the country last year, but we want to compete for something more than just those wins. The next big step for us is to win a conference championship, and that’s our goal this year.”
Faced with a sports injury? Contact UPMC Sports Medicine and get back to doing what you love.