Vancouver Canucks' Mason Raymond to make season debut against Nashville Predators -NHL Update
Mason Raymond suffered a scary vertebrae compression fracture earlier this year during game-six of the 2011 National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup Final between the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins.
After months of recovery and rehabilitation, the 26-year-old left winger from Cochrane, Alberta, Canada, is ready to make his debut with Vancouver when they face off against the Nashville Predators at home on Thursday, December 1, 2011.
Raymond was hit by Boston’s, Johnny Boychuk, into the side boards and was taken out on a stretcher during the contest. Boychuk was not penalised for the play but Raymond was forced to wear a corset in the upcoming days in order to stabilise his back from
moving.
"My life, your hockey life flashes before your eyes, if you're going to be playing again. You don't realize what you use every day, the use of your hands, until maybe something like that happens. You get a different outlook on life", Raymond said on Wednesday,
November 30.
Mason Raymond has been cleared for contact for nearly a week now, which gave him the green signal to start practicing, but he will have to take it easy and slowly adjust himself back into the rough NHL style of play.
"You don't realize how lucky you are every day to have the use of your arms and legs, to be able to put your clothes on and get in and out of bed," he said. "Then you get to the point where every day life is good but you can't compete at a level in the sport
we do.”
For Raymond, it was certainly a long summer which he does not hope of having to repeat at any point for the rest of the career, but as the sport of hockey requires physical taking, anything can happen at any time, which makes everything possible.
Players have gotten hurt over the years and many have had to end their careers, but hopefully with Mason Raymond, it will not be a similar case as the young forward still has many years to play as a professional ice hockey player.
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