WORCESTER — Not just in hockey, but in life in general, the last thing you want to happen is often the first thing that does.
So it was this season for Railers forward Nick Saracino.
Coming off a shoulder injury suffered last season as a rookie with the Iowa Wild of the AHL, Saracino was looking for a place to re-establish himself as an American Hockey League-caliber player and landed here with the Railers. So in Worcester’s first exhibition game ever, Saracino’s first game back after surgery, what happened?
He hurt his other shoulder.
“I was trying to put my game back together after surgery,” he said, “and getting hurt right away — that didn’t help. It has definitely taken me longer to get back to 100 percent than I had hoped. Not getting a contract at higher level, coming in and trying to rebrand yourself and get noticed — getting an injury in your first preseason game just does not help.
“But you’ve got to stick with the process and not look too far ahead because in this game, you never know.”
It looks like Saracino may finally be back to 100 percent because he has been one of Worcester’s best players in the first six games of this 11-game homestand. After going 3-7-10 in his first 25 games, Saracino is 1-6-7 in the last six.
“I recruited him and coached him for a couple of years at Providence College,” Railers coach Jamie Russell said. “I’ve known him and his family for a long time, and it’s been a great relationship. I’m real happy to see that he’s offensively starting to round out. That preseason injury really set back his start for the year, but he’s hot now, really starting to put up some points.”
Even though he wasn’t scoring early in the season, Saracino was in the lineup because he was a valuable two-way player.
“He is very responsible defensively, and his plus-minus reflects that,” Russell said. “In games, where you’re in a five-on-six situation, he’s a guy who’s in the mix to be out there. You saw that Sunday — a one-goal game, a big blocked shot. He manages the puck well inside his own blue line, and he’s been terrific defensively.
“It’s been an area he’s addressed. He’s lighter this year than he has been in the past, and the game is getting so fast, he’s recognized that, working on his skating, and he’s picked up a step.”
While this is Saracino’s first pro visit here, he has some Worcester connections in the past.
For one thing, he is from St. Louis and a huge Blues fan. He remembers when their AHL affiliate, the IceCats, were here. For another, when he skated for Iowa last season, one of his assistant coaches was David Cunniff, a Worcester Sharks assistant for eight years; the other assistant was Pascal Rheaume, who played for the IceCats; one teammate was Jeff Hoggan, who was an IceCat; and Iowa’s No. 1 goalie was Sharks fan favorite Al Stalock.
Saracino was a very good college player at Providence and joined Iowa for a tryout at the end of the 2015-16 season. His rookie year was cut short by the shoulder injury, though, and Saracino was left with a decision about his future when he was not re-signed.
“I definitely wanted to stay in North America and hope to get an American League call-up,” he said. “Talking to my agent, he thought it was a good idea to stay here. Jamie was taking over this team, and he coached me in Providence; I had a strong relationship with him, so we thought this was the best fit for me, and so far, it’s going great.”
Nick Saracino also got to play on the same team as older brother Chris, a defenseman who joined the Railers for two games early in the year when they were short of players. Chris Saracino is an attorney in St. Louis and paying off law school loans.
“That was fun,” Nick said. “I know he kind of misses playing and tries to stay in shape as much as possible. He’s doing well, working hard. He loves the game, so he’s never closed the door on getting back into it, but he’s got bills to pay.”
While Chris Saracino is catching up on his bills, Nick is catching up on the time lost to shoulder problems. His play in the last couple of weeks makes it look like he’s just about there.
—Contact Bill Ballou at william.ballou@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillBallouTG.