Goalies beware
Rangers sniper Adam Mascherin expects lethal shot after surgery to repair shoulder
KITCHENER — Adam Mascherin expects his already potent shot to be even more lethal now that he had arthroscopic surgery to repair his left shoulder.
And that’s bad news for opposing Ontario Hockey League goalies.
“I think my shot will be harder,” said the five-foot-nine, 192-pound Kitchener Rangers winger.
“If I played the last three seasons with pretty much no shoulder, I would assume now that it’s brand new in there that it will be better,” he said.
Mascherin was one of three players in the OHL to hit the 100-point mark last season. He also ranked second in the western conference for best and hardest shot and most dangerous in the goal area in the league’s annual coaches poll.
The shoulder discomfort dates back to his rookie season.
“It has been lingering,” he said. “Every time something happened it got worse. I basically haven’t played healthy my whole time (in the OHL).”
For two years the pain was bearable. Things changed this past January during a tight turn on the ice in a game against the Guelph Storm at the Aud.
“It really took a toll on me,” said Mascherin. “It was pretty much a day-to-day thing. The entire second half of the season was a physical and mental grind. I just started passing the rest of the year because I really couldn’t shoot that well.
“I probably should have gotten surgery done in January when it happened. But if I could get dressed for a game I was going to do it. In my mind I had to finish the season. I couldn’t give up on the team.”
Mascherin went under the knife to fix the torn labrum about a month after the Rangers were bounced by the Owen Sound Attack in five games in the opening round of the playoffs.
The surgeon — who works for the Toronto Maple Leafs — inserted three plastic screws into the shoulder of the forward’s shooting arm, stitched up the tears and stopped some internal bleeding.
The 19-year-old is expected to be out for four to six months.
“Honestly it’s 100 times better than before,” he said. “I have a feeling that I won’t be rushed back. Hopefully I can start the season on opening night.”
The Florida Panthers’ second round draft pick has been seeing a physiotherapist twice a week, hitting the gym daily and working with a power skating coach. He can’t lift overhead weights yet and hopes to find out Tuesday if he’s cleared to shoot pucks again.
Mascherin is coming off a career year that saw him score 35 goals and add 65 assists to finish third overall in OHL scoring. The sniper was among 42 players named to Hockey Canada’s development camp roster for the world junior championships last month.
“My range of motion won’t be 100 per cent compared to the other arm,” he said. “But they say that’s better because everything will be tighter and I’ll be in a position not to get hurt again. That’s a confidence builder for me.”
The Rangers host the Flint Firebirds in their season opener Sept. 22 at the Aud.