Injured Blazers defenceman Kyle Masters is in good spirts as he continues his recovery from a lower body injury suffered in Sunday’s 10-2 blowout win over the Peterborough Petes.

The 20-year-old gave NL Sports an exclusive update on his condition ahead of Thursday’s tiebreaker game against the Petes, with a spot in the Memorial Cup semi-final up for grabs.

“Yeah, a little bit of discomfort,” Masters said. “Obviously walking is a little bit difficult but I just want to say thank you to everyone, even if they helped out in the smallest of ways during those scary times. That was a big part for me.”

The Minnesota Wild prospect fell backwards into the corner boards after an awkward and somewhat troubling hit by the Petes’ Brennan Othmann in the third period of Sunday’s round robin game. Masters was down for several minutes as paramedics tended to him before he was stretched off the ice.

“Yeah, especially something like that where the stretcher is involved, its scary for everyone watching,” Masters said. “I just want to let everyone to know that I’m doing alright now.”

Masters, who is expected to be out for about six-to-eight weeks, also told NL Sports he is optimistic that the Blazers will be able to stave off elimination tonight.

“This is a good group, whether you have a player in or out of the lineup,” he said. “We’ve won with depth before, and I think that’s going to be a big part of it tonight and I’m looking forward to it.”

I had a brief conversation with Blazers D Kyle Masters today. He thanked everyone who helped that night and for all the support. He’s hoping the team can pull it out and ended our interview with a “Go Blazers Go.” It airs tonight @RadioNLNews

— Jon Keen (@JonKeenNLSports) June 1, 2023