Ian Scott is getting close to returning to the ice.
That the Maple Leafs goaltending prospect won’t have much company as the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to impact the world, for now, won’t be an issue.
Scott is happy that he soon will be putting on his skates again, the next step as he continues to recover from the hip surgery he underwent last December.
“It’s going great,” Scott told the Toronto Sun on Monday, referring to his rehabilitation. “It’s a little weird being self-quarantined while you do it, but it has been good.
“I’m not 100% sure (when) with all this stuff going on, but I’ll be back on the ice. It has been a long time.”
When we previously spoke to Scott, we were in Traverse City, Mich., last September, observing as the Calgary native played for the Leafs’ prospects team in the Detroit Red Wings’ annual tournament.
Scott was coming off a spectacular year with the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League. His play was crucial in the Raiders’ run to a WHL title, coming after Scott went 38-8-3 with a .932 save percentage during the regular season, more than enough to be named the Canadian Hockey League goaltender of the year. Scott and the Raiders faltered at the Memorial Cup in Halifax, failing to win a game, but it was the positives of the season that Scott was hoping to use a springboard when he looked ahead during the rookie tournament in Michigan.
Scott was ready to secure a job with the Toronto Marlies. Selected by the Leafs in the fourth round in the 2017 draft, Scott played in one game with the Marlies toward the end of the 2017-18 season and then worked out with the Marlies during their charge to a Calder Cup title that spring.
Those experiences, combined with his stellar 2018-19 season with Prince Albert (during which he signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Leafs), put him in line with a spot in the Marlies’ crease for 2019-20.
That didn’t happen. As it turned out, Scott has not played in a meaningful game in just over a year, his most recent appearance coming last May 21 against the Guelph Storm at the Memorial Cup.
“It was just after Leafs training camp (last fall), when we were getting ready for Marlies camp to start, there were a couple of skates and I tweaked something and it didn’t feel right,” Scott said. “We couldn’t figure out what it was, and we got a second round of imaging. That’s when we took a closer look at my hip and figured I needed surgery.”
Scott had the operation on Dec. 18, got home to Calgary for a few days during the Christmas break and returned to Toronto to begin an intensive rehabilitation program, with Leafs medical staff personnel Rich Rotenberg and Paul Ayotte as guides, in the new year.
That a season evaporated during the formative stage of his hockey career — Scott turned 21 in January — didn’t diminish his resolve.
“It definitely was frustrating, going from such a high (of winning with Prince Albert) to a low here, but you have to trust the process,” Scott said. “It has had its bumps in the road, but the Leafs staff have gone above and beyond.
“A lot of work we have put in is making sure my body is wired properly now, that the muscles are firing properly and in the right order, and I’m not using other muscles to compensate for a lack in other areas.”
Scott is quite certain he will be at full health once he does get a proper shot at winning a job with the Marlies at training camp, whenever that might be. One bonus to having his rehab in Toronto before the hockey world went on pause in March is that he was able to be around the Marlies during the club’s stretches at home.
For the past couple of months, social distancing has been a factor in his regimen, and will continue to be.
“Having all this down time (during the pandemic), it helped to make sure I’m not rushing anything and I’m not pushing myself to get back sooner than I should be,” Scott said. “It’s a good thing, kind of. It has probably helped me focus on the off-ice side of it a little longer, making sure my legs are stronger and everything is working well before I step on the ice.
“You have to be (positive). You’re going to have days where it sucks and you wish you were just playing hockey and how it used to be, but you have to accept (the pause) and do your best to get back.”
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2020
