Brennan Watson is happy to be back with the Yorkton RawTec Maulers.
The 17-year-old forward from Keeseekoose First Nation has been unable to do much of anything since early May 2015, thanks to a serious injury he sustained at the 2015 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships in Halifax, where he helped Team Saskatchewan repeat as National Champions. “It was tough. It sucked to not be able to work out during the summer and play for the Maulers for the entire season, but it feels good now,” said Watson of his injury, a Grade VI separation of the Acromioclavicular Joint (AC Joint), which is the joint that connects the arm to the shoulder.
Watson believes the injury happened because he strained it during the 2014/15 regular season, ignored it, and kept playing. “When I was playing with the Maulers I strained it and kept playing and hurting it more, then when I went to Halifax I bumped into a guy funny and it snapped and that was it,” said Watson, adding that he wasn’t quite sure how serious it was until he got back home from Halifax. “I wasn’t really notified on it until I got back home and then the doctor told me that I’d be out for quite some time. I wasn’t quite sure what to think, I was in shock a little bit.”
When the shock wore off, Watson said all that was on his mind was getting back and playing hockey again, something he accomplished this season as he suited up for 10 games with the Kamsack Midget Flyers, scoring 11 goals and registering two assists. “Playing in Kamsack was good because it let me start off slow, playing in the lowest level for midget,” mentioned Watson, continuing, “That helped me because I got quite a bit of ice time and it helped me get in shape a bit more because I haven’t played in a long time.”
His strong start to the season in Kamsack led to the Maulers finally APing the two year SMAAAHL veteran on Wednesday in Regina, where he wasted no time in making his presence felt, dominating play and scoring what eventually held up as the game winning goal. “
“It feels great just to be back on the ice with the team,” said a jubilant Watson, who spent the entire 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons with the Maulers before missing the first 29 games of the 2015/16 season due to injury. “I certainly missed the guys and to come back and score my first goal, it just feels great.”
Watson spent his first two midget seasons with the RawTec Maulers, scoring a total of 12 goals and 20 assists over 81 SMAAAHL games and is eligible to play in nine more regular season games as an Affilated Player (otherwise known as an AP)..
