Klefbom gets good news on shoulder

Edmonton Oilers defenceman Oscar Klefbom, who didn’t play the last 10 games because he needed repairs to his left shoulder, should be fine to start training shortly.

“They basically vacuum-cleaned a lot of pieces of bone floating around in there,” Klefbom said. “I was nervous because they didn’t know if I was going to be gone six months or six weeks.

“When I woke up, I got good news because I know the shoulder’s 100 per cent now.”

Klefbom hurt his shoulder and had surgery while still a junior in Sweden after the Oilers drafted him in 2011. Wear and tear has accumulated since.

“There was a lot of stuff going on inside my shoulder, stuff from a lot of years. Last year wasn’t a good time to go in and do this — not when we were in the playoffs, obviously,” Klefbom said. “I’m glad I don’t have to go through this anymore for injections and medication.”

He was a shadow of his normal self this year.

“I don’t have any excuses, but it’s tough to play hockey when you’re not 100 per cent. I want to be on the ice and effective,” Klefbom said. “Everybody knows it’s a physical game, especially for a defenceman to block out players.

“It’s a fast game and you have to use your arms a lot. Obviously my shot was affected, too — but no excuses.”

Maybe not, but the 24-year-old was protecting himself in battles on many nights.

“It’s more mentally than physically. At the beginning of the season, I didn’t know how bad it was. I thought if I got hit, maybe I’d be out the rest of the year,” Klefbom said.

The world stage for Sekera: Andrej Sekera avoided major problems with the repair of torn left knee ligaments late in the season when he stumbled in Minnesota. It was just a tweak and he hopes to play for Slovakia at the world championship in Denmark, then return as a top four D this fall.

“The doctors don’t think it’s serious. I should be ready to go in two or three weeks. No surgery, just some bruises and irritations,” he said.

Sekera struggled to catch up to the pace of the NHL, not returning to play until Dec. 21 after surgery in May.

“I want to play in the world championship. I’ll rehab for one week when I go home and join the team after that,” Sekera said. “I was frustrated as soon as I got hurt. It’s part of the life you live with contact sports. I tried to deal with it the best I could, but it was frustrating to be chasing the game.”