CALGARY — Mason Raymond knows a thing or two about dealing with pain.

An understatement, really, after the Vancouver Canucks forward suffered a horrific back injury during last month’s Stanley Cup final and has been dealing with the aftermath ever since.

Still, it’s enough to make him cringe while watching the rodeo cowboys taking a beating by the animals at the Calgary Stampede.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for these guys,” said Raymond, who was raised near Cochrane, Alta. “What they do and the beating their bodies take. I’d love to do it. I’ve always been interested and stuff.

“But I stuck to hockey.”

Which is actually what brings him back to the Calgary area for a few days — and what brought him to the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth on Wednesday.

His longtime pal — and former minor hockey teammate — Straws Milan is competing in the steer wrestling or “bull-dogging” event this week.

Milan and a handful of other cowboys chasing $17,500 in day money and the shot at $100,000 on the Stampede’s final day need to jump off a running horse and grapple with a running steer — in the shortest time possible.

With no body armour. Or “concussion-proof” helmets.

But Milan has nothing but respect for his pal Raymond, who was decked out in western garb and a back brace on Wednesday.

“He’s getting around better than he was,” noted Milan, who won $4,500 for a 4.1 second round — a different salary than Raymond’s $2.55-million US for a season’s work. “But getting in and out of the truck on the way here, I felt so bad for him.”

On Wednesday, Raymond politely declined to elaborate on the healing process from the vertebrae compression fracture he suffered in the Stanley Cup final. Officially, the team said it needs three or four months to heal.

At the rodeo he was alternating sitting and standing in the bleachers and otherwise enjoying the Stampede with his wife Megan.

“It’s been good,” he said. “I’m doing well. Every day getting better and better. I’ve been able to come out and do a few things. I enjoy this. I’m in Calgary for a few days.

“It’s been fun. I look forward to keep improving and moving on.”

Not to mention recovering from the sting of being so close to hoisting the Stanley Cup.

“Sure, it’s frustrating,” Raymond said. “You get so close and you’re one win away. In sports, someone’s gotta lose and it happened to be us this year. We learned a lot of good things that we can take away from it.

“We’ve got a good group of core guys back and hopefully we can get to that position.”

Calgary Herald

kodland@calgaryherald.com