AP PHOTO PAUL BEATY Minnesota Wild's Mason Shaw celebrates with teammates on the bench after scoring his first NHL goal during the first period of their game against the Chicago Blackhawks, on Oct. 30 in Chicago.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Scoring a goal in the National Hockey League is a dream often played out on driveways and backyard rinks with old hockey nets. For Mason Shaw, his dream of scoring an NHL goal came true, even if he can’t remember the moment.
“I kind of blacked out when it happened right away and there was just a ton of emotions and a lot of excitement at the same time,” Shaw said. “Definitely something I’ve dreamed of for a long time and it was pretty cool to make that dream a reality.”
The 24-year-old Wainwright product’s childhood fantasy came true on Oct. 30 while playing for the Minnesota Wild in Chicago against the Blackhawks. Tied 1-1 with 9:08 left in the first period, Shaw was the second attacker in a Wild rush into the Blackhawks end. Connor Dewar carried the puck into the end and centered it to Sam Steel who could not find an opening by goalie Alex Stalock and passed to Shaw, who then found the back of the net.
The former Medicine Hat Tiger had 18 shifts that game for 14:54 of ice time and picked up an assist on the Wild’s winning goal with 9:41 left in the third period. He said he didn’t care how the puck went into the back of the net that night.
“Whether it’s off my foot, or bar down from the blue line, I really don’t care and quite frankly, the goals I do score have been in tight around the net,” Shaw said. “My linemates did a great job making it pretty easy on me there to get the first one.”
Two days after scoring his first NHL goal, Shaw picked up his second in a 4-1 Wild home win over the Montreal Canadiens. He said his phone was blowing up after the game, his first call was to his parents who were watching the game in Wainwright.
When speaking with the News on Saturday, Shaw joked he didn’t know where his first goal puck was and that the Wild had it somewhere taped up to commemorate it. He says it will go to his parents, whenever it is found, as an appreciation souvenir for being his main supporter.
“I’ll try to get it back to my parents and they can do what they want with it,” Shaw said. “I did my part by getting the goal, now they can figure out what they want to do with it.”
Shaw has played six games with Minnesota this season after starting the year with the Iowa Wild in the American Hockey League. He had a goal in his two games before getting called up. Shaw was named captain of the AHL club ahead of the season, a role he was honoured to take.
“With the group down there, there’s a lot of good leaders and a lot of guys who lead by example on and off the ice,” Shaw said. “Anytime you’re able to represent your team by being a part of the leadership group, it’s something I don’t take lightly and try to definitely pride myself on as a player on and off the ice.”
Tigers head coach Willie Desjardins said seeing Shaw get success in the NHL is exciting for everyone with the team.
“He wasn’t the most gifted guy we’ve ever had but he was certainly one of the greatest and hardest working guys we’ve ever had,” Desjardins said. “The three knee surgeries, he battles through and keeps going to find a way, that’s what success is about.
“It’s about deciding that you’re going to be successful. You just decide and then it doesn’t matter what comes up, you find a way to go around it. Right now what comes up kind of overwhelms us and we can’t have that. But for him, he’s shown his grit, his heart and he’s an inspiration to all of us.”
