Feb 05, 2009 - 02:25 PM

By Brad Kelly

During his junior hockey career, Matt Lahey has been asked a variety of questions, but the same one comes up just about every time.

What happened?

"Oh yeah, definitely," he acknowledges with a bit of a laugh at the frequency of the inquiry. "Unfortunately my junior career was injury plagued. There's no doubt about that."

The 20-year-old Oshawa resident is leaning against a wall outside the dressing room of the Bowmanville Eagles following a recent win. Closing out his junior career with a Tier II club is a long way from where he expected to be, considering he was selected in the first round of the OHL draft, 10th overall, by the Ottawa 67's in 2004.

But his stock dropped, not so much based on his play, but rather, the lack of it due to shoulder and knee injuries, as well as a couple of concussions.

"I'm just trying to get back," he reasons. "I've dealt with so many injuries and it's been such a tough four years for me to overcome them."

The injuries began almost immediately. During his first intrasquad game as a rookie with the 67's, he separated his shoulder, but tried to play through it. In hindsight, it was a mistake. But at the time, considering the circumstances, he felt hiding the injury and trying to play through it was his only option.

"Being a first rounder and being 15 and moving away from home, there was a lot of pressure and I had no idea what to expect coming out of minor hockey. I had played through injury before.

"I was a little intimidated to go up to the training staff and Brian Kilrea. So I didn't tell anybody about it for a couple of more intrasquad games, but my poor play showed."

It was the beginning of a miserable bout with the injury bug. He suffered a serious concussion in his first game back after playing with the U17 team that sidelined him the rest of the year. In the off-season there was knee surgery that put him behind for his second season. In total, there were three knee surgeries, one shoulder surgery and a serious concussion in four years with the 67's. This season he caught on with Moncton of the Quebec League, playing 28 games as an overager.

But on the way home one night around Christmas he was "jumped" he says, resulting in another concussion. Uncertain of a return date, he was sent home by the team. Now, he is finishing up his junior eligibility with the Eagles, named the team's captain after just five games.

"It's definitely a little tougher when you go from playing major junior for four years to come back down," he admits. "I'm just back to having fun."

As for the future, he's leaning to signing a pro contract in Europe, or with a team in the East Coast or Central League. If that doesn't work out to his liking, he will land at a Canadian university.