Rehab not a Brees, but Shutron is determined

V-Reds | Credits book by NFL star for providing the inspiration to bounce back from broken femur bone

You are hereby advised: don't bet against Ben Shutron.

The 22-year-old defenceman with the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds has every intention to play again this season.

It won't be tonight, when the V-Reds officially begin pursuit of the Cavendish University Cup in a 7 p.m. faceoff against the Acadia Axemen in the first game of the best-of-five Atlantic University Sport men's hockey conference semifinal at the Aitken Centre, and it may not be tomorrow, when they play Game 2 in a 6 p.m. Sunday night start.

But he's set a goal to appear at some point in the next 27 days or so, "whether it's later in the playoffs or at nationals," he said.

Coach Gardiner MacDougall says only, "I'm not going to say no to a kid who's done what he's done."

That's good enough for Shutron, who has been participating in full practices with the V-Reds "for a couple of weeks now" - a bit of a silver lining in itself, really, considering he was 1:42 into the third game of the season when he was tripped up by University of Calgary defenceman Eric Frere on Sept. 18 as he drove to the net and went heavily into the end boards, breaking the femur bone in his right leg. Frere drew a five-minute major penalty for boarding.

Shutron got six months.

But he believes it's almost over. And he says he's almost ready to jump back into the play, even at the pace and intensity that play in the AUS semifinals demands.

"I think it's really realistic," said the ever-positive Shutron. "It's still the same game. The rink hasn't gotten any bigger. You're still playing with the same black puck. I think it's more of a confidence thing. I scrimmaged with our team last week during our bye week and I felt really good. There's still another level I'd like to get to, but I'm not nervous. I'll just keep going in practice, and working with the guys and the coaches to get to that level, and I think I'll be fine."

"He's fighting big odds, but he's got an amazing attitude," said MacDougall. "He's got an amazing attitude, there's no question. Benny's making progress. It's a phenomenal, outstanding story. Just what he's done so far has been a total inspiration."

Shutron has made it his passion to make every day count this winter with the idea of resuming his hockey career.

With Game 1 pushed back from Friday to today due to the snowstorm, it's one valuable day of rehab for him, one more step in the process.

He was medically cleared for contact as of Feb. 1 "and it's been going really well," he said. "My conditioning is coming back. I'm feeling comfortable, and just trying to get better every practice."

If he can return to even a modicum of his form from a year ago, when he made the AUS and CIS all-rookie teams as a freshman, he'll provide the UNB defence - already the stingiest in the land - with another valuable soldier as they march toward the University Cup tournament here March 24-27. At the very least, he's a source of inspiration.

Playing again this season "has been a goal of mine right from the get-go," he said. "They said it would take three months for the bone to heal. It took a little longer than that. But I had a great surgery, and the doctor explained that I was in great shape before it happened. I've been working really hard with the training staff, and I got walking ahead of time. I finally caught a couple of breaks, I guess."

Good breaks, that is.

"As an athlete, you want to get back so bad that it's tough to keep things in perspective," he said. "I should be grateful for how far I've come so far."

He is, certainly. He's drawn inspiration and motivation from several sources, including his dad Steve, a firefighter in his native Ottawa, who, when playing Tier 2 junior hockey with the Central Junior A Hockey League's Gloucester Rangers back in the day, made it back from what was supposed to be season-ending knee surgery before the end of the year. His mom, Carol-Ann, a certified personal trainer by trade and a former competitive swimmer, helped as well.

And so did a book by New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees.

"The guys were on their trip in the States and I had just gotten back from looking for reading material," said Shutron. "I came across a book by Drew Brees and how he battled back from a really bad shoulder injury, and achieved his ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl. The day after I purchased that book online, coach called me to see how I was doing. He had been talking to Wayne Halliwell, the sports psychologist for Team Canada, and the one book he suggested was the Drew Brees book."

The title: Coming Back Stronger: Unleashing the Hidden Power of Adversity.

Shutron didn't necessarily have to read the book - he was kind of living it at the time, after all, including navigating the always steep and sometimes treacherous hill on the UNB campus on crutches. He's worked the weights to the point where his right leg is more muscular now than when he broke it.

"I like to say it's stronger now that I've got a big piece of metal in there," he said. "It's pretty amazing actually...it's right back to normal. The only pain I have now is in my lungs."

Shutron said the Brees book had a profound impact on him.

"It really kind of changed my perspective on life and how you work with challenges," he said. "The main thing is just setting little goals. What Drew did was set little goals every week and try to beat them. That's what I've been doing."

Next week's goal - Acadia?

"I may get in against Acadia," he said. "I'm not sure yet. I've talked to the coaches and we haven't really set a time frame. I still want to be at a better level. But I'm looking to get back and get some games in before nationals."

Shutron doesn't worry about the practicality of trading an entire season of eligibility for the sake of, at best, a couple of weeks of playoff hockey.

Totally worth it in Shutron's estimation.

"I've got five years to play, and my plan from the get-go was never to stay for six years," he said. "To play in a national tournament on your home ice, that's a once in a lifetime opportunity. For myself, I worked so hard in the summer and I came back in the best shape of my life. I still want to salvage some part of the year."

The power of positive thinking - not the book, but the attitude - played a role too.

"You can sit there and feel sorry for yourself and let it get the best of you, or you can work harder," said Shutron. "I come from a positive family, and we have a lot of character. And my team and my teammates have been great, and the fans too."

The family also includes his identical twin brothers Brett and Derek, just turned 21, and teammates with the Clarence Castors of the Eastern Ontario Junior B Hockey League, and a collie named Buddy.

"Some people say we're triplets," he chuckled.

The brothers, though, are sometimes linemates - "kind of like the Sedins on a smaller scale," he said.

Jason Bast had a pair of goals as St. Francis Xavier X-Men drew first blood in the other AUS semifinal, defeating Saint Mary's Huskies 5-3 in Antigonish, N.S. last night.

A scheduling conflict with the Huskies' home rink, Halifax Forum, forced last night's game to be played in Antigonish. Games 2 and 3 will be in Halifax Sunday and Tuesday nights.

Phil Mangan, Bryce Swan and Chris Hulit gave St. FX a 3-0 lead in the second period before Dave MacDonald scored for SMU. Bast made it 4-1 early in the third before Justin Munden and Mike Danton scored to move the Huskies to within one. However, Bast had a last-minute goal to seal the deal.

Saint Mary's outshot St. FX 25-17 with Joseph Perricone getting the win in goal over Neil Conway. It marked the fifth win in as many games for X over the Huskies, who are the defending AUS and national champions.