ASSOCIATED PRESS JOHN MCCOY
Minnesota Wild centre Mason Shaw shoots the puck while Los Angeles Kings centre Trevor Moore defends in the first period of their game on Dec. 11 in Los Angeles.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
It was a long and twisted road, but Mason Shaw reached his NHL dream.
The former Medicine Hat Tiger dressed in his first NHL game for the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 9, a 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks, an accomplishment itself. En route to that debut, Shaw rehabbed and returned from three torn ACLs, including two since being drafted by the Wild 97th overall in 2017.
Shaw spoke with the News the day after his debut and had good things to say of his first week in the NHL. He said he eventually settled into the game but went through some realizations during warmups.
“Early on in warmup it was a bit of a pinch-me moment, I just tried to enjoy it. That’s what everyone preached to me these last couple days leading up to last night,” Shaw said. “Once I got that first shift or two out of the way it felt like hockey again. Get a couple scoring chances or make a couple plays that you kind of feel like you belong, that’s how it went for me.
He says once he was in the game he didn’t think about it being the NHL and was just focused on doing his part to get the win. It wasn’t until after the game he let the moment truly sink in.
“After the game sitting in the stall I got time to think about it a little bit,” Shaw said. “I remember I always told myself when I got drafted this wasn’t going to be the last time I put on the jersey so I’m glad that dream happened for me.”
Shaw has spent the past four seasons with Minnesota’s AHL team, the Iowa Wild. It was after an Iowa loss to the Chicago Wolves on Dec. 5 that he got the news all players dream of.
“We just finished playing against the Chicago Wolves, we lost the game so no one was in a great mood in the locker room. (Minnesota) general manager Bill Guerin was there and he just came down and told me that I was getting called up and coming on the road trip,” Shaw said. “Obviously once I heard that it was a dream come true and I was extremely excited.”
He said his first call was to his dad because he’s the person Shaw talks to about everything and was happy to say he got to share that experience with him.
Shaw credited his parents for helping him get to the NHL and work through his injuries.
“They’ve been the main reason I am where I am today. They have been by my side through good times and obviously more importantly when I needed them when things weren’t good,” Shaw said. “They’ve always been in my corner and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them. My parents are the main reason I am where I am in this moment living out my dream.”
He says the three ACL tears he suffered, one while he was with the Tigers, are part of his entire journey to the bigs.
“At the end of the day the injuries are part of the game, and at some point unfortunately, you’re going to go through them,” Shaw said. “For myself, three stacked up really quick in a period of my career that felt very important. It was always my dream to play in the NHL and those setbacks weren’t enough to deter me from that. Sure somedays it felt like I couldn’t achieve them but the support around me was great, and at the end of the day it was a goal that I wanted and I didn’t take no for an answer.”
The Lloydminster product played his second NHL game two days after his first when the Wild took on the Los Angeles Kings on the road. However since the interview with the News, Shaw was sent back down to Iowa on Dec. 12.
The call up to the NHL came while the Wild were heading on a road trip that brought them out West with a matchup against the Edmonton Oilers. Although he didn’t dress in the game, he said it was great getting to meet up with friends and family afterwards.
Shaw said a lot of his former Tigers teammates and staffers reached out after the call-up to congratulate him. He said those calls reminded him of what it meant to play in Medicine Hat.
“We had great teams in Medicine Hat and, more importantly, a lot of great friendships came out of it,” Shaw said. “The coaches, the trainers, players, everyone has kind of reached out at different times and, ‘once a Tiger always a Tiger.’ So those friendships and memories made will last forever, it’s nice to catch up and hear from some of the guys.”
