It's been a long hard painful climb for Max Martin to get back into the swing of things.
This was supposed to be the season he got a taste of regular duty playing defence for the Prince George Cougars. But hockey can be a cruel game and he got hurt in the first game of the season, back on
Sept. 25, and had shoulder surgery a couple weeks later to repair a torn labrum (a piece of cartilage which keeps the socket in place).
Finally, after four months on the sidelines, Martin returned to action last Saturday against the Kelowna Rockets.
Although the Cougars did not get the outcome they were after (a 6-4 loss which extended their losing streak to five games), Martin got through the game without any glaring errors, a considerable achievement for any rookie WHL defenceman, especially against the defending league champions.
"It was good to get back Saturday, obviously we didn't get the result we wanted but it was good to be on the ice playing," said the six-foot, 185-pound Martin, drafted in the second round by the Cougars 27th overall in 2014.
"I thought I played pretty solid, I just tried to keep things simple and not try to overdo anything. It used to be my game (to jump into the rush) but at this level I'm keeping it more simple and picking my spots."
Martin dislocated the same shoulder last winter playing midget hockey in Winnipeg.
"I liked Max's game, I thought he played very well for not playing for a few months," said Cougars head coach Mark Holick.
"He's assertive; he passes the puck hard and does things fast and that's what we're trying to get out of all our defence. He's been practicing with us for two months and he hasn't missed a beat in practice so it was seamless for him."
Martin was the captain for Team Manitoba and led his team to a bronze medal at the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George.
He was picked for Canada Black at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Dawson Creek but could not play because of his injury. The native of Winnipeg resumed skating with the Cougars in mid-November. He started taking contact drills again a month ago and went on the road with the Cougars on their East Division tour but did not get to play in front of his family and friends in Manitoba.
"I was kind of disappointed but better to wait a bit longer than rush it and have something go wrong," said Martin.
"Everything's good now. It's kind of different feel from the pre-season now that we're full into the regular season - it's a lot more intense and a lot faster than you think. I just want to finish the year strong and get as many games as possible and just try to get more experience under my belt."
Martin's return came at a good time for the Cougars, who are playing without two of their most physical defencemen - Josh Anderson (back) and Shaun Dosanjh (concussion). Dosanjh fell awkwardly into the boards early in Friday's game and did not return, while Anderson has been out for a month now with no return date in sight.
The Cougars lost both games last weekend to Kelowna, 4-3 in overtime on Friday and 6-4 on Saturday.
Now they face a well-balanced Red Deer Rebels team in a two-game set at CN Centre tonight and Friday. The Rebels began their B.C. Division tour Tuesday in Kelowna, where they lost 3-1. The Kamloops Blazers beat them 5-3 Wednesday to extend the Rebels' losing streak to four games. The Blazers' win moved Kamloops within four points of the third-place Cougars.
"I thought our effort (last weekend) was good, but our execution in the D-zone wasn't where it needed to be," said Holick.
"By our count, we outchanced (Kelowna) 31-18 on Saturday and to give up six goals on 18 chances, that's a glaring issue there.
"Every team in our conference has gone through slumps. It just so happens this is ours and we have to weather the storm and get through it. We're generating enough offence and we're scoring enough goals to win games. We have to do a better job in our end and that starts in goal, our save percentage and our goals against is not good since Christmas. Our defencemen and our low forwards have to be better in our own zone and be more committed to be harder to play against and I don't think we're getting that consistently enough."
The Cougars (31-22-3-1, fourth in Western Conference) did get a handle on their discipline troubles last weekend. The WHL's most-penalized team played shorthanded only five times in the two games against Kelowna.
Coached by Brent Sutter, the Rebels are preparing to host the Memorial Cup in May. They're a big team, backed by defenceman Haydn Fleury, Nelson Nogier, Kayle Doetzel and Colton Bobyk and plenty potent goalscorers, including Ivan Nikolishin (29 goals, 73 points), Adam Helewka (33 goals), Jake DeBrusk, Adam Musil and Luke Philp.
Philp, acquired in a trade from Kootenay, is just returning to form, having played just four games since injuring his ankle Nov. 21.
With Rylan Toth out with an upper-body injury, Trevor Martin will be the likely starter in goal for Red Deer.
The Rebels (33-20-1-2, third in the Eastern Conference) have four other injured players - F Connor Bleackley (upper body), F Braden Burtill (upper body), F Reese Johnson (upper body) and D Josh Mahura (lower body.
