Shaw signs ATO with Iowa Wild

By Ryan McCracken on April 6, 2018.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com
@MHNMcCracken

Medicine Hat Tigers centre Mason Shaw took another big step toward a professional hockey career Friday by signing an amateur tryout agreement with the American Hockey League’s Iowa Wild.

The 97th overall Minnesota Wild draft pick missed all 72 games of the Western Hockey League’s regular season and the first round of the playoffs after tearing his ACL during a Traverse City Prospects Tournament game in September. While he was cleared to play for the second round, his Tabbies fell in six games to the Brandon Wheat Kings — prompting Shaw to head for Iowa in the hopes of hitting the ice before the season concludes.

“It’s been a tough winter, but I think this call-up gives me a bright spot to end my year and move into the summer,” said Shaw. “(Iowa) wanted me to come down and get in a couple practices before I jumped into game action, just because I haven’t played all year. I just talked to the coach and some of the brass and the plan is to get in for the last three games. Hopefully next Tuesday, it looks like, will be the first one.”

The Iowa Wild sat sixth in the AHL’s Central Division with a 30-26-9-6 record entering Friday’s game against the Chicago Wolves (38-21-7-4) — nine points back of the Rockford IceHogs for the final playoff spot in the division with five games remaining in the regular season. While it’s not the Gas City, Shaw says he’s still no stranger to his new teammates, as many were with him when he suffered the torn ACL in September.

“I’m familiar with quite a few of the guys and the coaching staff I’ve been with for Traverse City as well. It’s good,” said Shaw, whose Wild will host the IceHogs Tuesday night. “It’s just fun to gel and be part of something again.”

Shaw went under the knife in late September to repair his injured knee and spent the next six months working toward a return. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound playmaking power forward will be sporting a custom knee brace for the foreseeable future. Although Shaw says the brace took some getting used to, it will prevent any further injury to the affected knee while providing him with some peace of mind on the ice.

“It’ll give me a lot of confidence knowing I’m not going to tweak it being in a brace,” said Shaw. “It goes on underneath my shin pad but it doesn’t affect my game too much.”

Shaw has been down the road to recovery before. The 19-year-old Wainwright product injured his other knee prior to his first season in the WHL. While his rookie year was cut short due to planned surgery, Shaw wore a brace for the 23 games he played that season — logging three goals and six assists in the span.

“I’m kind of used to it,” said Shaw, who recorded 27 goals and 67 assists last season to push his career point total to 163 in 161 games. “I think I’ll probably wear it through this season and continue on in the summer. I’ll probably start next season with it until probably a year after the surgery when I feel real confident.”

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